Heating and Domestic Hot Water Systems in Buildings

Transcription

Heating and Domestic Hot Water
Systems in Buildings Supplied by
Low-Temperature District Heating
Marek Brand
70°C 50°C
45°C
40°C 25°C
70°C 50°C
10°C
PhD Thesis
40°C 25°C
Department of Civil Engineering
2014
DTU Civil Engineering Report R-296 (UK)
November 2013
Heating and Domestic Hot Water
Systems in Buildings Supplied by
Low-Temperature District Heating
Heating and Domestic Hot Water Systems in Buildings Supplied by LowTemperature District Heating
Copyright
©2013 Marek Brand
Printed by
DTU Tryk
Publisher
Technical University of Denmark
Brovej, building 118
2800 Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark
ISBN
9788778773821
ISSN
1601 - 2917
Report No.
BYG R-296
Thesis successfully defended 12.12.2013
PREFACE AND THESIS OUTLINE
This thesis is submitted as a partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of
Doctor of Philosophy at the Technical University of Denmark, Department of Civil
Engineering.
The thesis is conceptually divided into two parts. Part I is dedicated to the delivery of
DHW supplied by low-temperature district heating, including research on an energy
efficient bypass solution. Part II is focused on the feasibility of supplying space
heating systems in existing and low-energy buildings using low-temperature district
heating. Each part has own specific background, methods, results and discussion and
specific conclusions, but they share a common introduction, hypothesis, general
conclusions and suggestions for further work.
The thesis is based on the following three ISI articles, corresponding to three
individual sub-hypotheses. The thesis reports only the main findings and the fulllength articles can be found in the Appendix.
The first article focuses on challenges and their solutions related to the heating of
domestic hot water by low-temperature district heating with a supply temperature of
50°C.
•
Numerical modelling and experimental measurements for a low-temperature
district heating substation for instantaneous preparation of DHW with respect to
service pipes. Brand M, Thorsen J E, Svendsen S. in Energy 2012, vol. 41(1), p.
392-400.
The first paper argues that the supply service pipe of low-temperature district heating
substations based on the instantaneous principle of DHW heating need to be kept
warm by using a bypass solution to ensure fast provision of DHW. The second paper
therefore investigates the feasibility of redirecting the bypass flow to the bathroom
floor heating to reduce the heat loss from the service pipes and whole network while
making good use of the “waste” heat to take the chill off the floor in bathrooms.
•
Energy-efficient and cost-effective in-house substations bypass for improving
thermal and DHW comfort in bathrooms in low-energy buildings supplied by
low-temperature district heating, Brand M, Dalla Rosa A, Svendsen S. in Energy
2014, vol. 67, p. 256-267.
i
The third paper investigates the feasibility of connecting a single-family house from
the 1970s to low-temperature district heating and answers the question of how much
and for how long period does the supply temperature of low-temperature DH need to
be increased above 50°C. The house represents typical example from the Danish
building stock and the investigation shows the advantage of combining energy-saving
measures with the implementation of renewable-energy based heat supply at the same
time.
•
Renewable-based low-temperature district heating for existing buildings in
various stages of refurbishment, Brand M, Svendsen S. in Energy 2013, vol. 62,
p. 311-319.
ii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This thesis is a result of three years of research performed at the Technical University
of Denmark at the Department of Civil Engineering’s Section of Building Physics and
Services, additionally extended by six months’ work on the relevant research project
with industrial partners and consultant companies.
I want to thank to all partners from COWI, Danfoss A/S, Danish Technological
Institute, Grontmij and the many others I met during this work for accepting me as
full-value team member and helping me orient in the world of district heating. I would
also like to thank my main supervisor, Professor Svend Svendsen, for his guidance
through my entire PhD project, and my co-supervisor Bjarne W. Olesen for the
opportunity to discuss various scientific questions.
I am very grateful to Danfoss A/S for their partial financial support of my studies. A
special thanks is due to my other co-supervisor Jan Eric Thorsen from Danfoss A/S
for giving me the benefit of his huge knowledge and always having a positive and
kind approach. Thanks also to the Strategic Research Centre for Zero Energy
Buildings for their partial financial support and for giving me the opportunity on a
regular basis to discuss the work for my PhD project in the perspective of other
colleagues from the centre. And thanks also to Janusz Wollerstrand and Patrick
Lauenburg from Lund Technical University for accepting me as a part of their
research group during my half-year external stay at Lund Technical University and for
sharing their knowledge about district heating with me.
One of my biggest thanks is to my colleague Alessandro Dalla Rosa for being always
there to share matters of research and everyday life issues as well, and Jakub Kolařík
for reading through and commenting on this thesis. And I also want to acknowledge
all the staff from the section of Building Physics and Services for providing a friendly
and inspiring environment. Special thanks to Diana Lauritsen and other Danish
colleagues for having the patience to talk to me in Danish and thus helping me to
learn the language.
Many thanks also to my family and friends in the Czech Republic for being there for
me during my frequent visits, but also to my “Danish family”, consisting of many
extraordinary people who have created such a wonderful environment for me that I
have never felt that I am 800 km from my home country.
I extend my most sincere thanks to my girlfriend Anežka for being my everyday
sunshine also during rainy and short winter days, and for her inspiration to be a better
person.
iii
My last and greatest thanks are addressed to my aunt Lída, for her endless support in
many difficult life situations. She has contributed a great deal to making my Ph.D.
studies possible and therefore this thesis is dedicated mainly to her.
Lyngby, 31st August 2013
Marek Brand
iv
ABSTRACT
District heating (DH) systems supplied by renewable energy sources are one of the
main solutions for achieving a fossil-free heating sector in Denmark by 2035. To
reach this goal, the medium temperature DH used until now needs to transform to a
new concept reflecting the requirement for lower heat loss from DH networks
required by the reduced heating demand of low-energy and refurbished buildings
combined with the lower supply temperatures required by using renewable heat
sources. Both these needs meet in the recently developed concept of low-temperature
DH designed with supply/return temperatures as low as 50°C/25°C and highly
insulated pipes with reduced inner diameter. With this design, the heat loss from the
DH networks can be reduced to one quarter of the value for traditional DH designed
and operated for temperatures of 80°C/40°C. However, such low temperatures bring
challenges for domestic hot water (DHW) and space heating (SH) systems, from the
perspective of both DH customers and the DH utilities. The aim of this work was
therefore to identify, evaluate and suggest solutions.
The first part of the research focused on the feasibility of supplying DHW with no
increased risk of Legionella and on the performance of low-temperature DH
substations.
The Danish Standard DS 439 for DHW requires that DHW should be delivered in
reasonable time, without unwanted changes in desired temperatures (comfort) and
without increased risk of bacterial growth (hygiene). While the comfort requirements
set the minimum DHW temperature to 45°C, the hygiene requirements set it to 60°C,
which is simply not reachable for low-temperature DH. However, the German DHW
standard DVGW 551 makes no requirement about minimum DHW temperature if the
overall DHW volume is below 3L. This rule was adopted as a cornerstone for the
research and for the whole low-temperature DH concept in general, so the minimum
DHW temperature is defined by a requirement for 45°C at the kitchen tap.
The performance of a low-temperature DH substation with instantaneous DHW
preparation was evaluated based on the results from laboratory measurements
supplemented with results from the verified numerical model developed in
MATLAB-Simulink. The laboratory measurements showed that the low-temperature
substation can heat the required flow of DHW to 47°C with 50°C DH water while
keeping the return temperature as low as 20°C. The results of numerical simulations
considering the influence of the DH network, represented by a 10 m long service pipe
connection for the substation equipped with an external bypass with a set-point
temperature of 35°C, showed that the time needed to produce 40°C DHW was 11 s
with and 15 s without the external bypass, respectively. DS 439 suggests 10 s as the
reasonable waiting time for DHW, so a low-temperature DH substation based on the
instantaneous principle of DHW preparation should be equipped with bypass solution
keeping the service pipe warm and reducing the waiting time.
v
Traditional bypass solutions simply redirect the bypassed water back to the DH
network without additional cooling, but bypassed water can instead be redirected to
floor heating in the bathroom to be further cooled and thus reduce heat loss from the
DH network while improving comfort for occupants and still ensure fast DHW
preparation. Various solutions for the redirection and control of bypass flow were
developed and their detailed performance tested on the example of a low-energy
single-family house modelled in building energy performance simulation tool IDAICE 4.22. The effect on the DH network was simulated with the commercial program
Termis on a case study of 40 single-family houses supplied by low-temperature DH.
In comparison to the reference case with a traditional external bypass, the proposed
solution resulted in average cooling of bypassed water by 7.5°C, reducing the heat
loss from DH network during non-heating period by 13% and increasing the average
floor temperature by 0.6-2.2°C without causing overheating. The price for heating the
bathroom floor during the non-heating period depends on the location of the house
and was between 98 and 371 DKK/house, but it seems reasonable to bill all customers
with an even and discounted price, reflecting the fact that 40% of the heat delivered to
the bathroom floor is covered by reduced heat loss from the DH network.
It can be concluded that low-temperature DH with a supply temperature low as 50°C
can be used for the delivery of DHW with the desired temperature and without
increased risk of Legionella if the DH substation and DHW system are designed for
the low-temperature supply conditions. To ensure the fast provision of DHW during
non-heating periods, the supply service pipe should be kept warm, preferably with the
bypass solution redirecting the bypass flow to bathroom floor heating and thus at least
partly exploiting the additional heat loss caused by keeping the DH network ready to
use.
The second part of the work focused on SH systems in low-energy and existing
buildings supplied by low-temperature DH.
The feasibility of supplying existing buildings with low-temperature DH was
investigated using the IDA-ICE program by modelling the example of single-family
house from the 1970s, representing a typical example of Danish building stock. The
results show that, to maintain the desired indoor temperature and not exceed the
originally designed flow rate from the DH network, the DH supply temperature would
need to be increased above 50°C in cold periods. In its original state, the house would
need to be supplied with a DH temperature above 50°C for 21% of the year and above
60°C for 3% of time, with the highest temperature being 73°C. But if the windows are
replaced, which can be expected because their lifetime is coming to an end, the
maximum supply temperature is reduced to 62°C and the periods are reduced to 7%
and 0.2% respectively. Further improvements, such as the addition of ceiling
insulation or the installation of low-energy windows and low-temperature radiators,
will allow DH water supply at 50°C the whole year around. The results show that
supplying existing buildings with low-temperature DH is not a serious problem and
that DH companies should be stricter in reducing the supply temperature, which is
vi
very often kept high just because of the malfunctioning of the in-house systems of
customers. Moreover DH companies should require that all newly installed and
refurbished DH substations should be designed for low-temperature DH to ensure the
gradual transition to a temperature level of 50°C in the shortest possible period.
The IDA-ICE program was also used to model the performance of a space heating
system with radiators in the low-energy single-family house. The space heating
system was investigated from the perspective of the customer, represented by thermal
comfort, and the DH utility, represented by a smooth heat demand and low return
temperature. To accord with the literature, the modelling of internal heat gains
reflected the improved efficiency of equipment by reduction of value from 5 W/m2 to
4.2 W/m2, also modelled as intermittent heat gains based on a realistic week schedule.
Furthermore, the indoor set-point temperature was increased from 20°C to 22°C to
reflect a temperature level preferred by occupants. The results showed that an SH
system with radiators can provide the desired indoor temperature while ensuring a
smooth heat demand from the DH network and proper cooling. However, using input
values suggested by the literature and reflecting reduced internal heat gains and higher
desired indoor temperature leads to up to 56% greater heat demand than values
suggested in the Danish national calculation tool Be10, and in 20% lower connection
power than for an SH system dimensioned in accordance with DS 418. Furthermore
the connection heat power is usually by DH utility increased by additional “safety
factor” of 20-30%, resulting in total over-dimension for space heating up to 60%. Use
of safety factors and Be10 input data in cost-effectiveness analyses for DH networks
therefore means worse results, because less heat is sold to customers and there is
higher heat loss in the network. Similarly, higher connection power than needed
means bigger pipe diameters are needed, resulting in higher heat losses as well. Using
realistic values is therefore very important for feasibility calculations of DH.
vii
RESUMÉ
Fjernvarme (fjv.) systemer baseret på vedvarende energikilder er et væsentligt
element i løsningen for at opnå fossil fri varmeforsyning til bygningssektoren frem
mod 2035. For at kunne opnå dette mål, skal forsyningstemperaturen reduceres, for
derved at tilgodese bygningernes fremtidige lavere energiforbrug og den øgede
mængde af vedvarende energi som ved den lavere temperatur bliver til rådighed.
Begge behov er imødekommet for det fornylig lancerede lav temperatur fjv.
konceptet, som opererer ved forsyningstemperaturer på 50°C/25°C sammen med højt
isolerede fjv. rør. Sammenlignet med traditionelle fjv. systemer (80°C/40°C), er
distributions varmetabet reduceret til 1/4. Imidlertid medfører de reducerede
temperaturer en række udfordringer for det varme brugsvand og for varme
forsyningen. Dette både ift. slut-forbrugeren men også ift. varmeværket. Formålet
med dette arbejde er at identificere, analysere og opstille anbefalinger og løsninger
hertil.
Første del af arbejdet fokuserer på mulighederne for forsyning af varmt brugsvand
uden øget risiko for legionalla bakterier, samt funktionalitet og performance af lav
temperatur fjv. stationen.
Af Dansk Standard DS 439 fremgår at varmt brugsvand skal leveres indenfor
acceptabel tid (komfort) og uden unødvendig temperatur variationer (komfort) samt
uden øget risiko for vækst af legionella bakterier (hygiejne). Mht. komfort kræves en
brugsvands temperatur på 45°C. Mht. hygiejne kræves en temperatur på 60°C, hvilket
ikke umiddelbart er foreneligt med lav temperatur konceptet. For dette arbejde er der
taget udgangspunkt i det tyske regelsæt for vandforsyning, DVGW 551, som under
forudsætning af mindre end 3 liter volumen i varmt vands systemet (efter
varmeveksleren) ikke stiller krav til temperaturen ift. hygiejne. Temperaturkravet er
således bestemt af komfortkravene i DS439, dvs. 45°C til rådighed for køkkenvasken.
Funktionalitet og performance for lav temperatur fjv. stationen er blevet analyseret
vha. udviklede dynamiske Matlab-Simulink modeller og verificeret op imod
laboratorier målinger. Disse viste, at der ved specificeret flow kunne opnås en
brugsvandstemperatur på 47°C ved 50°C forsynings temperatur, med en tilhørende
retur temperatur på 20°C. Resultaterne fra den dynamiske model viste, at det er muligt
at komme fra system tomgang (ingen tapning over længere tid, 10 m delvis nedkølet
stikledning, by-pass temperatur på 35°C og ingen varme behov) til 40°C
brugsvandstemperatur på 11 sekunder. Ifølge DS 439 betragtes en passende ventetid
på varmt brugsvand som 10 sekunder, hvilket derved i praksis er overholdt ved
anvendelse af by-pass (varmholdning af stikledninger).
Traditionel by-pass fungerer ved at en termostat styret ventil holder fjv. vandet på et
passende temperatur niveau ved fjv. stationen. Derved bliver fjv. vandet dog ikke
afkølet, hvorved det ledes tilbage til fjernvarme nettet ved unødvendig høj temperatur,
med højere termisk net tab til følge. I stedet foreslås at fjv. vandet ledes igennem
ix
gulvarmen for badeværelset, hvorved afkølingen opnås, inden vandet ledes tilbage til
fjernvarme værket. Derved reduceres det termiske net tab. Yderligere reduceres
ventetiden for det varme brugsvand, idet fjv. stationen bliver forsynet umiddelbart
med varmt fjernvarmevand også uden for perioder med tapning af varmt brugsvand.
Forskellige løsnings forslag for by-pass er blevet analyseret og valideret vha. IDAICE simulerings værktøjet for bygningens vedkommende. For fjv. nettet er TERMIS
blevet anvendt for analyserne. Sammenlignet med traditionel by-pass er der eftervist
gennemsnitligt 7.5°C reduceret afkøling af by-pass vandet, hvilket reduceret
fjernvarmenettets varmetab med 13% i perioder hvor der ikke kræves varme i
bygningen. Den gennemsnitlige gulv temperatur blev forøget med 0.6 – 2.2°C, dog
uden at dette leder til overhedning af badeværelserne. Opvarmningen af badeværelses
gulvene over sommeren er beregnet til at koste 89 – 371 Kr./hus, hvilket skal ses i
lyset i at 40% af denne energi ellers ville være tabt i fjv. forsynings nettet, og denne
del ville forbrugerne skulle betale under alle omstændigheder, idet nettabet fordeles
kollektivt forbrugerne imellem.
Det kan konkluderes, at lav temperatur fjv. med en forsyningstemperatur på 50°C kan
anvendes til at producere varmt brugsvand ved passende temperaturer, med acceptable
ventetider og uden øget risiko for legionella under forudsætning af at fjv. stationen
tilgodeser de specifikke krav herfor. Ventetiden reduceres yderligere ved at anvende
by-pass gennem gulvvarmen for badeværelset i sommer perioden for derved at holde
stikledningen varm og udnytte en del af den energi som ellers ville være gået tabt in
fjv. nettet.
Anden del af arbejdet har fokuseret på varmesystemet for lav energi bygninger og
eksisterende bygninger med henblik på at analysere muligheden for at forsyne disse
med lav temperatur fjv.
Muligheden for at forsyne eksisterende bygninger med lav temperatur fjv. er blevet
analyseret vha. IDA-ICE programmet. Typiske én-familie huse fra 1970 er taget i
betragtning, idet de repræsenterer en væsentlig del af bygningsmassen i Danmark.
Simuleringsresultater viser, at for at kunne holde den ønskede rumtemperatur, kræves
en højere forsyningstemperatur end 50°C for de koldeste perioder. For det originale
hus fra 1970 kræves en forsynings temperatur på over 50°C i 21% af tiden og over
60°C i 3% af tiden. Den højeste nødvendige fjv. temperatur er 73°C. Energirenoveres
med nye vinduer, hvilket er oplagt idet de eksisterende har udstået deres levetid,
bliver den maksimale forsyningstemperatur reduceret til 62°C og varigheden for
temperaturer over 50°C hhv. 60°C er 7% og 0.2%. Yderligere tiltag, som isolering af
loftet eller udskiftning af vinduer sammen med radiatorer dimensioneret til lav
temperatur drift medfører at 50°C forsyningstemperatur kan anvendes hele året rundt.
Derudover burde fjv. værkerne stille krav om at der for om- og nybygning kræves at
bygningen forberedes til lav temperatur drift.
Detaljerede analyser omkring varmesystemet blev udført for lav energi én familie
huse, fokuserende på brugeren, mht. termisk komfort, og fokuserende på fjv. værket,
x
mht. jævn energi belastning og lav retur temperatur. Resultater viser at ønsket rum
temperatur sammen med en jævn varme belastning kan opnås. Et mere realistisk
varme grundlag fremkommer ved at anvende varmetilskud 4.2 W/m2 i stedet for 5,0
W/m2 som typisk fremgår af litteraturen. Derudover afspejler en indendørs temperatur
på 22°C, i stedet for den typiske anvendte værdi på 20°C, et mere retvisende billede
mht. energiforbrug. Anvendes antagelserne fra litteraturen, fås 56% større beregnet
varmebehov sammenlignet med Be10 beregningerne og 40% lavere forbrug
sammenlignet med dimensionering iht. DS 418. Ved anvendelse af Be10 beregninger
vil varmegrundlaget blive for lavt, hvad er en udfordring for fjv. konceptet, idet
forholdet mellem leveret (nyttiggjort) og tabt varme bliver forringet. Omvendt hvis
varmegrundlaget bliver estimeret for højt, j.f DS 418, har det den konsekvens for fjv.
nettet at rørdimensionerne bliver for store, med deraf følgende øget varmetab.
xi
LIST OF PUBLICATIONS
PUBLICATIONS INCLUDED IN THE THESIS
Article I
district heating substation for instantaneous preparation of DHW with respect
to service pipes. Brand M, Thorsen J E, Svendsen S. in Energy 2012, vol.
41(1), p. 392-400.



Marek Brand performed the full-scale measurements of district heating house substation
at DTU; based on the model of heat exchanger and individual components provided by
Danfoss build and calibrated numerical model in Matlab Simulink and wrote the whole
article.
Jan Eric Thorsen from Danfoss provided numerical models of components, supported
further development on the numerical model and proof-read the article and suggested
comments.
Svend Svendsen proof-read the article and suggested comments.
Article II
low-temperature district heating, Brand M, Dalla Rosa A, Svendsen S.
Svendsen S. in Energy 2014, vol. 67, p. 256-267 .



Marek Brand developed technical solutions for comfort bathroom concept; performed
detailed simulation in IDA-ICE and wrote the article.
Alessandro Dalla Rosa wrote part “Traditional external bypass in a in-house substation”
and provided code for calculation of bypass performance needed as an input data for
simulations of bypass use in bathroom floor heating. Moreover based on the results from
building simulations, provided by Marek Brand, performed simulation of the influence
of bypass use in the floor heating on the district heating network in software Termis and
partly wrote chapter “effect of comfort bathroom on heat production and distribution”.
Svend Svendsen developed the original concept of comfort bathroom which was
explored by Marek Brand with help of Alessandro Dalla Rosa.
Article III
various stages of refurbishment, Brand M, Svendsen S. in Energy 2013, vol.
62, p. 311-319.


Marek Brand performed all work.
Svend Svendsen proof-read the article and suggested comments.
PUBLICATIONS AND WORK NOT INCLUDED IN THE THESIS
The list below reports additional research work not included in the thesis either
because I was not the main author or because the topic is already covered by the
articles included in the thesis.
xiii
PEER-REVIEWED INTERNATIONAL ARTICLES
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
A Direct Heat Exchanger Unit Used for Domestic Hot Water Supply in a SingleFamily House Supplied by Low Energy District Heating. Brand M, Thorsen J E,
Svendsen S, Christiansen CH. In proceedings of 12th International Symposium on
District Heating and Cooling. 5-7 September 2010. Tallinn, Estonia
Performance of Low Temperature District Heating. Brand M, Dalla Rosa A,
Svendsen S. In proceedings of IEA ANNEX 49 conference “The Future for
Sustainable Built Environments with High Performance Energy Systems”. 19 - 21
October 2010. Munich, Germany
Experiences on low-temperature district heating in Lystrup – DENMARK.
Thorsen J E, Christiansen C H, Brand M, Olsen P K, Larsen C T. In proceedings
of International Conference on District Energy. March, 2011. Portoroz, Slovenia
Energy-Efficient and Cost-Effective Use of District Heating Bypass for
Improving Thermal Comfort in Bathrooms in Low-Energy Buildings, Dalla Rosa
A, Brand M, Svendsen S. In proceedings of 13th International Symposium on
DHC. September 3-4, 2012. Copenhagen, Denmark
Space heating in district heating-connected low-energy buildings. Lauenburg P,
Brand M, Wollerstrand J. In proceedings of 13th International Symposium on
DHC. September 3-4, 2012. Copenhagen, Denmark
Optimal Space Heating System for Low-Energy Single-Family House Supplied
by Low-Temperature District Heating. Brand M, Lauenburg P, Wollerstrand J,
Zboril V. In proceedings of PassivHus Norden 2012.
Results and experiences from a 2-year study with measurements on a new lowtemperature district heating system for low-energy buildings. Christiansen C H,
Dalla Rosa A, Brand M, Olsen P K. In proceedings of 13th International
Symposium on DHC. September 3-4, 2012. Copenhagen, Denmark
RESEARCH PROJECTS
•
•
•
EUDP 2008 “CO2-reductions in low energy buildings and communities by
implementation of low temperature district heating systems. Demonstration
cases in Boligforeningen Ringgården and EnergyFlexHouse”
o chapter in report part 2 (detailed study about waiting time for DHW)
o task manager for part 3 (comfort bathroom concept, floor heating)
o application for International Energy Agency award
EUDP 2010 “Danish Energy Agency, “EUDP 2010 Low-temperature district
heating in existing buildings”
o contribution with the above mentioned Article II and Article III
EUDP 2011 “Heat pumps for heating of DHW supplied by low-temperature
district heating ”
o contribution to the report with calculation of heat demand for the
example of typical low-energy buildings
xiv
•
•
•
Svensk Fjärrvärme “Nästa Generations Fjärrvärme” (Next Generation District
Heating)”
o contribution to the report with calculations and text about use of
different space heating systems in low-energy buildings supplied by
low-temperature district heating
Brochure of the Strategic Research Centre for Zero Energy Buildings – parts 1
and 3
o contribution to the information booklet 1 “Definition and Role in
Society” and booklet 3 “Design Principles, Design Guidelines and
Built Examples
IEA DHC Annex X – contribution to chapters 3, 4 and 5 of the report “Toward
4th Generation District Heating: Experiences with and Potential of LowTemperature District Heating”
xv
NOMENCLATURE
List of abbreviations
CB
ECL
DHWC
DHWSU
DH
DHSU
SUB
DHW
FH
FF
HEX
IHEU
LTDH
PTC2+P
SP
SH
TRV
FJVR
comfort bathroom
electronic controller from Danfoss
DHW circulation
DHW storage unit
district heating
district heating storage unit
district heating substation
domestic hot water
floor heating
fossil free
heat exchanger
substation based on instantaneous principle of DHW
heating (instantaneous heat exchanger unit)
proportional-thermostatic controller for DHW from
Danfoss
service pipe - pipe connecting street pipe with DH
substation
space heating
thermostatic regulation valve
TRV controlled by the fluid temperature
List of Symbols
ṁ
Tbypass
Tfloor
Top
Tret
Tsoil
ΔTDB
Pmax
[kg/s]
[°C]
[°C]
[°C]
[°C]
[°C]
[°C]
[kW]
TRW
[°C]
mass flow
bypass set point temperature
floor temperature
operative temperature
return temperature
temperature of soil
Deadband
maximum heating power
weighted average return
temperature
xvii
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PREFACE AND THESIS OUTLINE ......................................................................... i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...................................................................................... iii ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................. v RESUMÉ ..................................................................................................................... ix LIST OF PUBLICATIONS .................................................................................... xiii NOMENCLATURE .................................................................................................xvii 1 2 3 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................ 1 1.1 Objective of Research ..................................................................................... 2 1.2 Scope ............................................................................................................... 2 1.3 Hypothesis ....................................................................................................... 3 BACKGROUND ................................................................................................... 5 2.1 Energy Supply - Situation and Political Decisions ......................................... 5 2.2 Heat Supply in Denmark ................................................................................. 5 2.3 Low-Temperature DH - Definition and Justification ...................................... 7 PART I - DHW HEATED BY LOW-TEMPERATURE DH ......................... 11 3.1 Specific Background ..................................................................................... 11 3.1.1 Requirements for DHW heating ............................................................ 11 3.1.2 State-of-the-art low-temperature DH substations .................................. 14 3.1.3 Waiting time for DHW and DH bypass ................................................. 17 3.1.4 Low-temperature DH substation with integrated heat pump ................. 20 3.1.5 DHW systems supplied by low-temperature DH................................... 21 3.2 Delivery of DHW .......................................................................................... 25 3.2.1 Methods.................................................................................................. 25 3.2.2 Results and Discussion .......................................................................... 32 3.2.3 Conclusions ............................................................................................ 34 3.3 Cost-efficient Use of Bypassed DH Water in Bathroom Floor Heating ....... 36 3.3.1 Methods.................................................................................................. 36 3.3.2 Results and Discussion .......................................................................... 44 3.3.3 Conclusions ............................................................................................ 49
xviii
4 PART II – SPACE HEATING SYSTEMS SUPPLIED BY LOWTEMPERATURE DH ........................................................................................ 53 4.1 Existing Buildings ......................................................................................... 53 4.1.1 Specific background............................................................................... 53 4.1.1 Methods.................................................................................................. 54 4.1.1 Results and Discussion .......................................................................... 56 4.1.2 Conclusions ............................................................................................ 61 4.2 Low-Energy Buildings .................................................................................. 63 4.2.1 Specific background............................................................................... 63 4.2.2 Methods.................................................................................................. 65 4.2.1 Results and Discussion .......................................................................... 66 4.2.2 Conclusions ............................................................................................ 70 5 GENERAL CONCLUSIONS ............................................................................ 71 6 FURTHER WORK AND RECOMMENDATIONS ....................................... 75
7 REFERENCES.................................................................................................... 77 8 LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................ 85 9 LIST OF TABLES: ............................................................................................. 88
APPENDICES ............................................................................................................ 89 ISI paper I ................................................................................................................... I ISI paper II ................................................................................................................ II ISI paper III .............................................................................................................. III Schedule for Internal Heat Gains .............................................................................IV xix
1 Introduction
1 INTRODUCTION
To reduce CO2 emissions and increase the security of supply, in 2011 the Danish
Government decided [1] to achieve a fossil-free heating and electricity sector for
buildings by 2035 and complete independence of fossil fuels by 2050. The Energy
Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) [2] requires that all new public and other
buildings should be constructed as nearly-zero energy buildings [3] from 2018 and
2020 respectively. The Danish national heating plan [4] judges that this will be
achieved mainly by a further spread of district heating (DH) based on renewable heat
sources (RES). The most cost-effective use of these sources is related to their
efficiency [5], so the DH supply and return temperatures should be as low as possible.
This is also required by the need to reduce the heat loss from DH networks, which
will make it economically possible to supply buildings with reduced heating demand,
such as low-energy and refurbished existing buildings, which it would be
uneconomical to supply with traditional medium temperature DH. To reflect these
needs, the concept of low-temperature DH with supply/return temperatures of
50/25°C respectively (see Figure 1.1), matching the exergy levels of supply and
demand sides [6], has recently been developed and successfully tested in a settlement
of low-energy houses [7]. The deployment of low supply/return temperatures and DH
pipes designed with smaller diameters and greater insulation thicknesses reduces the
heat loss from the network to one quarter of the heat loss expected from a traditionally
designed and operated DH network with 80/40°C [8]. However, the reduced supply
temperature and focus on energy efficiency brings some new aspects which still need
to be addressed in relation to both main tasks for DH, i.e. domestic hot water (DHW)
and space heating (SH).
70°C 50°C
45°C
70°C 50°C
40°C 25°C
10°C
40°C 25°C
Figure 1.1 – Concept of low-temperature district heating
The fact that the DH supply temperature is as low as 50°C puts focus on the risk of
Legionella in the DHW system and poses the question of whether the DH substation
can heat DHW to the desired temperature of 45°C within reasonable time and provide
the desired cooling of DH water. With regard to SH systems, we need to distinguish
between low-energy and existing buildings. For new low-energy buildings, reduced
DH supply temperatures do not represent any serious problem because their low heat
demand allows the design of SH systems with low supply/return temperatures of
1
1 Introduction
50/25°C. However, low-energy buildings comprise, and for some more years will
continue to comprise, only a small share of the building stock, while 85-90% are older
buildings with considerably greater energy demands [9], heated by radiators designed
for a supply temperature of 70°C or higher. Reducing the DH supply temperature to
50°C would therefore cause thermal discomfort for their occupants and an undesirably
high return temperature and flow to the DH network. However, these two types of
buildings are geographically mixed, so the feasibility of supplying both types by the
same DH network should be investigated.
1.1 Objective of Research
The goal of the project was to identify the challenges related to using low-temperature
district heating with supply temperatures as low as 50°C in space heating and DHW
systems and to suggest solutions. The research took into consideration both lowenergy buildings with reduced heating demand and existing buildings with high
heating demand.
1.2 Scope
DH systems are very complex; they consist of the heat production side, represented by
heat plants, the heat demand side, represented by the buildings, and the heat
transmission systems transferring the heat between them by means of DH water
flowing in DH pipes. This thesis focuses on the heat demand side represented by inhouse SH and DHW systems, on the DH house substation as their common interface
to the DH network, and on their interaction with the rest of the DH system.
The broad nature and complexity of the topic requires some assumptions and
limitations, which can be summarised as:
•
•
•
•
•
The work focused mainly on the in-house DHW and SH systems, including
the DH substation
A maximum volume of 3L for the DHW system is assumed, so there is no
requirement for a minimum temperature of DHW to deal with Legionella
Existing buildings are defined as buildings built after 1970 and in accordance
with Danish building regulations
The research did not examine the heat production side or the heat transmission
system, but only uses results from recently published studies
The research did not develop refurbishment solutions to reduce heating
demand, but only uses results from recently published studies.
2
1 Introduction
1.3 Hypothesis
The main hypothesis of this research was:
It is possible to decrease the district heating supply temperature to 50°C and operate a
district heating network with a reasonable flow and cooling of district heating water,
and maintain desirable indoor temperatures and fast delivery of domestic hot water,
without increased Legionella risk, for both existing and low-energy buildings.
The main hypothesis can be divided into four sub-hypothesis (see Figure 1.2):
1) With district heating substations specially designed for low-temperature
operation, it is possible to reduce the district heating supply temperature to 50°C
and still provide domestic hot water at the required temperature level, without
increasing the waiting time for domestic hot water and without increasing the risk
of Legionella, and at the same time ensure a return temperature of district heating
water as low as 20°C.
2) Bypass flow redirected during the non-heating period into bathroom floor heating
is additionally cooled and thus in comparison with traditional bypass solutions
reduces the heat loss from the district heating network while giving occupants the
sensation of a warm floor at a discounted price.
3) Existing buildings can be supplied with low-temperature district heating systems
designed for a supply temperature of around 50°C if the district heating supply
temperature is increased during very cold periods and DHW substations are
changed.
4) The space heating system in a low-energy building supplied with low-temperature
district heating at 50°C can provide the desired indoor temperature and maintain a
smooth load on the district heating network and a low return temperature.
3
1 Introduction
Part II
Space Heating Systems Supplied by LTDH
Part I
DHW Heated by LTDH
LTDH with 50°C
DHW
space heating
risk of Legionella
need for bypass
solution
desired DHW
temperature
efficient use of
bypass flow
existing buildings
radiators
70/40°C
low-energy buildings
heat demand
low return
temperature
tempering bathroom
floor
refurbishment
measures
smooth profile
waiting time for
DHW
reducing heat loss
from DH network
temperature
peaking
indoor
temperature
not exceed original
DH flow
IHE substation
Influence of
service pipes
internal heat
gains
DH costefficiency
CH 3.2
CH 3.3
CH 4.1
CH 4.2
DHW heated by LTDH
(sub-hypothesis 1)
Energy efficient bypass
(sub-hypothesis 2)
LTDH for existing
buildings
(sub-hypothesis 3)
LTDH for low-energy
buildings
(sub-hypothesis 4)
Figure 1.2 – Relation between main hypothesis and sub-hypothesis
4
2 Background
2 BACKGROUND
2.1 Energy Supply - Situation and Political Decisions
With regard to the energy sector, the EU is currently facing two main challenges. The
first one is the climate change caused by the emission of considerable amounts of CO2
from burning fossil fuels, and the second one is security of supply connected with the
import of fuels mainly from non-EU countries and their increasing price caused by
their diminishing reserves. Buildings in the EU account for approx. 40% of the total
energy use [2], so reducing energy used mainly for SH and heating of DHW will
contribute significantly to improving the situation. In 2010, therefore, the EU
commission issued a recast version of the Energy Performance of Building Directive
(EPBD) requiring all member states to implement in their national building codes the
requirement that all new buildings built after 2020 should meet high energy-saving
standards [2]. However, this is just the first step. The second step is to become
completely independent of fossil fuels and base energy supply purely on renewable
energy sources (RES).
So every EU country had to prepare a national plan for including more RES in the
national energy system. This was also the main objective of the research study, Heat
Plan Denmark 2010 [4]. The study suggested Denmark should become completely
fossil-free by 2050, but the deadline for the heating and electricity sector has been
brought forward to the year 2035. This is to be achieved by energy savings in
buildings, improved efficiency on the energy production side, and further expansion
of DH to neighbouring areas increasing the DH share of heat delivery from 50% (in
2010) up to 70%. The heat sources for the DH are expected to be centralised heat
pumps, solar thermal heat plants, and geothermal heat plants with/without heat
pumps. The remaining 30%, mainly in areas with low heat demand, is to be covered
by individual heat pumps.
To make the energy sector fossil-free on time, the Danish Government is supporting a
lot of research activity via its Energy Technology Development and Demonstration
Programme (EUDP) [10], where complete list of the projects can be found. There is
on-going work on energy savings in both low-energy buildings and the refurbishment
of existing buildings, e.g. at the Strategic Research Centre for Zero Energy Buildings
(ZEB) [11] [12] [13]. With regard to the further development of DH, the lowtemperature DH project in Lystrup [14] [15] [7] and the implementation of heat
pumps to low-temperature DH [16] should be mentioned.
2.2 Heat Supply in Denmark
In 2010, DH covered 50% of total heat demand (63% of households) in Denmark, and
it has a long tradition from the beginning of the 20th century [17]. But it was the oil
crisis in the 1970s that really boosted its expansion. At that time, the political
problems in the Middle East resulted in disruption of oil supplies and steep increases
5
2 Background
in oil prices. The reason for the extensive expansion of DH was the higher efficiency
of centralised heat sources compared to individual boilers, saving fuel and thus also
money. Furthermore, DH made it possible to use waste heat, e.g. from the production
of electricity – known as combined heat and power (CHP) – or from industrial
processes, and raised the possibility of burning communal waste to get energy instead
of using landfill. For the same reasons, DH is considered an environmentally friendly
heating solution because the heat is produced with lower or without CO2 emissions.
DH can be also defined as a heating system with high flexibility with regard to heat
sources. And this is exactly what is needed to achieve a 100% fossil-free heating
sector by 2035. The integration of fossil-free and renewable energy sources on a large
scale is easier, cheaper and faster than changing individual heat sources. Figure 2.1
shows that in 2011 fossil-free heat sources contributed 52% of the total fuel mix in
Danish DH: 32% from biomass, 19% from waste, and less than 1% from solar and
thermal heat sources.
Figure 2.1 – left: Share of DH in heat delivery in Denmark 2012; right: Share of heat sources in DH for 2011
[18]
In 2010, the average DH supply (Tsup) and return (Tret) temperatures in Denmark
were:
•
•
heating season Tsup 78.7°C and Tret 41.4°C
non-heating season Tsup 73.3°C and Tret 44.1°C
Figure 2.2 (left) shows the development of fuel source shares in DH between 1994
and 2012. The share of fossil fuels has continuously decreased while the share of nonfossil fuels has increased. Figure 2.2 (right) shows the price development of oil,
natural gas, wood pellets, wood chips and straw for DH companies, supporting the
need to drop fossil fuels due to increasing price, as well as their environmental
impact.
6
2 Background
Figure 2.2 – left: Development of heat source shares in DH in the period 1994-2012 [19] (green – RES, red –
natural gas, black – coal, blue – oil); right: Development of fuel prices for DH in the period 1997-2011 [18]
(blue – oil, red – natural gas, azure – wood pellets, violet – wood chips, green - straw)
However, bio fuels are not seen as a long-term solution, because Denmark’s own
production cannot cover the fuel demand. Moreover, biofuels will be needed for fuel
production for the transportation sector after 2035. So, energy for DH will have to
come from “non-burnable” RES, such as geothermal and solar heat, possibly in
combination with large-scale heat pumps.
2.3 Low-Temperature DH - Definition and Justification
To further expand and operate DH systems in a cost-efficient way, the following
should be considered:
•
•
•
The increasing number of low-energy and refurbished buildings with reduced
heat demand
RES of heat as the only heat sources after 2035
The heat supply of buildings that were originally designed for medium supply
temperatures
The heat demand for SH in low-energy or refurbished existing buildings is low in
comparison with typical existing buildings, but the absolute heat loss from the DH
networks remains the same. This means that the ratio between the heat loss from the
DH network and the heat used by the customers increases and heat loss represents a
bigger portion in the heating bill, reducing cost-effectiveness. So reducing heat losses
in the DH network is one of the key issues for future DH heating.
The heat loss from the network could be reduced by the physical improvement of DH
pipes, starting with increasing their thickness and improving the properties of the
insulation material, continuing with the integration of supply and return media pipes
into one casing (twin pipes [20]), and ending with the reduction of pipe diameter
based on the optimisation method to exploit all the differential pressure available on
the way to the individual customer [21]. Heat loss from the DH network is also
proportional to the difference between the supply temperature and the temperature of
the surrounding ground, so lower supply temperature means lower heat loss.
7
2 Background
The DH supply temperature can be reduced only to the level that still guarantees:
•
•
The delivery of DHW with the required temperature of 45°C DHW at the tap
[22]
The design indoor temperature in the buildings, usually 20°C of operative
temperature [23]
With regard to state-of-the-art technology, specially developed low-temperature heat
exchangers (HEX) with a logarithmic mean temperature difference (LMTD) of 6.5°C
can produce 45°C DHW from 50°C hot water on the primary side while ensuring the
desired cooling of primary water to 20°C. Such HEXs are applied in low-temperature
DH substations [24], [25] (discussed later in section 3.1.2). Furthermore, reducing the
DHW temperature to 45°C reduces heat losses from DHW pipes and storage tanks
and thus increases the efficiency of heat sources. It is estimated that reducing DHW
temperature from 60°C to 45°C increases the efficiency of solar collectors by 10%
and the coefficient of performance factor of HP by 30% [26].
Low-temperature DH is a concept mainly for low-energy and refurbished buildings.
Space heating systems in both types of building can be designed with a supply
temperature of 50°C (defined by DHW requirements) and a return temperature of
25°C, i.e. a cooling of 25°C.
The low-temperature DH concept can therefore be characterised as a DH concept
with:
•
•
Heat loss reduced by using twin pipes with at least class 2 insulation and
reduced media pipe diameter
A design supply temperature of 50°C and a design return temperature of 25°C,
with the option of higher temperatures during peak periods
The cost-effectiveness of the low-temperature DH concept was proved first in a
theoretical study of a settlement with 92 single-family houses (low-energy class 1
[27]), which showed it was fully competitive to solution with individual heat pumps,
mainly thanks to the low heat loss from the DH network, calculated to be just 12% of
the heat delivered [14].
The concept was built and successfully tested at Lystrup in Denmark in 2010 [15], on
a settlement of 40 low-energy houses, low-energy class 1 [27]. With low
supply/return temperatures, the annual heat loss from the DH network measured in
2012 [7] was as low as 17% of delivered heat, i.e. one quarter of the value for a
network designed with traditional pipes and operated with temperature levels of
80/40°C.
Dalla Rosa et al. [28] investigated the possibility of using a low-flow DH system,
characterised with design supply/return temperatures of 80/25°C and compared its
cost-efficiency with the traditional concept of 80/40°C and low-temperature DH
8
2 Background
50/25°C in the example of the settlement with 40 low-energy houses. Dalla Rosa
reported that although the low-flow system resulted in smaller pipe diameters that
were expected to reduce the overall heat loss from the network, the higher supply
temperature meant higher heat loss than the low-temperature DH with a supply
temperature of 50°C. Moreover, the authors concluded that it was better to design the
DH network with smaller pipe diameters and increase the supply temperature to 60°C
during very cold periods instead of designing the DH network with an all-year-round
supply temperature of 50°C and bigger pipe diameters. But the study did not consider
the investment cost and energy-efficiency for RES of heat related to the increase of
supply temperatures, which can have considerable influence on the results. The heat
loss from the DH network can be further reduced using the optimisation method to
exploit all the available differential pressure for each individual customer, resulting in
additional reduction of pipe diameter [21].
With decreasing heat demand in buildings and the need to deploy more renewable
sources of energy, the low-temperature DH seems to be an appropriate solution.
However, it should be pointed out that these considerations do not reflect existing
buildings designed originally with SH and DHW systems for 80/40°C, as discussed in
Section 4.1.
9
3 DHW Heated by LTDH
3 PART I - DHW HEATED BY LOWTEMPERATURE DH
This part investigates the feasibility of supplying DHW systems using lowtemperature DH and is divided into two halves. The first half focuses on the
requirements for the DHW system and the performance of a low-temperature DH
substation based on the instantaneous principle of DHW heating. The second half
focuses on the development of an energy and cost-efficient bypass solution. The
research work is described in more detail in ISI papers [24] and [29].
3.1 Specific Background
3.1.1 Requirements for DHW heating
Delivery of heat for DHW preparation is one of the main tasks for DH. DHW systems
can be basically divided into two main parts: the DHW heater (in the case of DH, this
is the DH house substation) where the DHW is heated from cold potable water, and
the in-house DHW distribution system, i.e. pipes connecting the heat source with
individual taps.
Danish Standard DS 439 [22] stipulates the following requirements for all DHW
systems:
•
•
Hygiene – DHW should be delivered without increased risk for bacterial
growth (DS 439, chapter 2.5.1)
Comfort – DHW should be delivered in reasonable time, with the desired
temperature and without unwanted fluctuations in temperature
When DH is the source of heat, the DH substation should also fulfil requirements on:
•
Performance – the DH substation should be able to heat DHW up to the
desired temperature with the defined DH supply temperature while providing
the desired cooling of DH water.
DHW temperature
DS 439 [22] stipulates that the DHW should be delivered to every DHW tap with a
minimal temperature of 50°C, but the temperature can drop to 45°C during peak
situations. However, later in the text, the minimal DHW temperature required from
the tap is lower and varies depending on the DHW use (tapping types) and the DHW
is already expected to be mixed with cold water. Specifically, in the kitchen DHW is
required to be 45°C and, at other tapping points, 40°C.
Waiting time for DHW
The waiting time for DHW expresses how long the occupant should have to wait for
the DHW with the desired temperature after opening the tap. The waiting time
consists of the time needed for the DHW heater (i.e. the DH house substation) to
11
produce the DHW with the desired temperature (the recovery time) and the
transportation time needed to deliver DHW from the substation to the tap. Excluding
DHW systems with DHW circulation, the transportation time depends on the length of
the DHW pipes and their diameter. The recovery time of the substation is discussed
later in this section.
DS 439 defines the “reasonable time” to deliver DHW with the desired temperature
for all DHW tapping types as 10 s with a flow of 0.2L/s (DS 439, chapter 4.2.2.).
However, in the case of hand washing, the waiting time is counted only to the moment
when DHW with 30°C is delivered to the tap [22] (part 4.6.4), because 30°C is
considered as sufficient to start hand washing. Moreover it should be mentioned that
in real use the waiting time is longer because the real flow for individual DHW
tapping types is less than 0.2 L/s.
For the DHW systems with a waiting time longer than 10 s, DS 439 suggests using
DHW circulation to increase the comfort for occupants and avoid wasting water
flushed directly to the drain during the period of waiting for DHW with the right
temperature. However, it should be mentioned that the use of DHW circulation
increases the heat losses from keeping the DHW system ready to use.
Hygiene
For DHW, the risk of bacterial growth mainly concerns Legionella bacteria.
Legionella can be present in DHW and, when the DHW is aerosolised by tapping
(most often during showering), the bacteria can be inhaled to the lungs. Depending on
their concentration and the person’s state of health, it can cause milder Pontiac Fever
or the more severe Legionnaires disease, which is very dangerous for old people or
people with a weak immune system [30]. Since the both diseases have a very similar
development to regular influenza, many cases are left unrevealed.
Favourable conditions for Legionella growth are large volumes of stagnating DHW,
enough nutrients and a favourable temperature range [31]. Figure 3.1 shows that the
highest risk of Legionella proliferation is in temperature range 35-45°C, i.e. exactly
the temperatures of DHW used for tapping.
12
Figure 3.1 – Risk of Legionella proliferation related to the DHW temperature [32]
This is why most national DHW standards require a minimal DHW temperature of
60°C to be out of the favourable growth conditions. However, according to [26],
Legionella bacteria can survive temperatures of up to 80°C by hiding in amoebas
attached to the sediments on the inner surfaces of DHW pipes or storage tanks. It
should be mentioned that our knowledge of the risk of Legionella is in many cases
ambiguous and on-site measurements are full of uncertainties. But the high
temperature at the DHW heater itself does not guarantee there is no risk of Legionella,
because mainly in big DHW systems hydronic misbalance can create parts of the
DHW system where the DHW temperature drops to the temperature range favourable
for Legionella growth [24]. So it is arguable that a minimal temperature of 60°C is not
really enough.
Apart from high temperature, the alternative solutions to the risk of Legionella include
micro-filtering at the DHW tap, ultraviolet light disinfection, electrolytic or chemical
treatment, and cavitation. But all of these solutions need either additional energy or
maintenance, have considerable running costs or use chemical substances, so keeping
the DHW temperature above a certain level is the simplest and most reliable solution.
However, the risk of Legionella can be also kept low without introducing Legionella
elimination solutions or keeping the DHW over 60°C simply by reducing the water
volume in DHW system. The German standard [33] makes no requirement about
minimal DHW temperature if the overall volume of DHW (excluding HEX) is below
3L. An attempt to do something similar was made in Danish DS information
DS/CEN/TR 16355 [34], but the document comes to ambiguous conclusions, not
really providing firm guidelines on minimal temperature level.
The “rule of 3L” is a cornerstone of the whole low-temperature DH concept for
DHW, defined by:
•
Minimum DHW temperature of 45°C, based on the comfort requirements
13
•
•
Maximum length of DHW pipes, based on the maximum allowed volume of
3L
No storage of DHW, based on the maximum allowed volume of 3L
In addition to low-temperature DH, the same concept can be used for other lowtemperature heat sources, such as solar-thermal collectors or heat pumps.
The state-of-the-art DHW HEX with a temperature drop between primary and
secondary sides of 3°C and an additional 2°C temperature drop as an effect of cooled
DHW pipes at the beginning of tapping means that the first requirement defines the
minimal supply temperature of low-temperature DH as 50°C.
The second requirement gives the maximum length of DHW pipes. It is suggested that
the DHW fixtures should be individually connected with PEX pipes with an inner
diameter of 10 mm, which allows 38 m of pipe in total. In the case of steel pipes with
DN15 or DN10, the maximum length is reduced to 15 or 25 m respectively, which is
still seen as enough for a single-family house if the location of all DHW tapping
points is planned during the design phase of the house. Figure 3.2 shows an example
of the design in the pilot low-temperature DH project in Lystrup, where the total
length of the DHW pipes is 12.6 m. Since the DHW pipes have an inner diameter of
10mm, this means only 1 L of DHW. Proper location of the tapping points also means
there is no need for DHW circulation, which is another source of energy losses.
DHW
fixture
nominal
flow
[L/min]
length
to
fixture
[m]
volume
in
pipes
[L]
velocity
[m/s]
shower
8.4
2.2
0.17
basin
3.4
4.1
kitchen
6
6.3
transportation delay [s] for:
nominal
flow
flow 0.2L/s
1.8
1.2
0.9
0.32
0.7
5.8
1.6
0.49
1.3
4.9
2.5
Figure 3.2 – Example of location and connection of DHW tapping points designed in proximity of DH house
substation based on the instantaneous principle of DHW in Lystrup. The table shows the transportation
delay for nominal and expected flows and lengths of individual feeding pipes (inner diameter 10 mm)
The last requirement for no storage of DHW water leads to the development of a lowtemperature house substation with a buffer for DH water (discussed in the next
chapter).
3.1.2 State-of-the-art Low-temperature DH substations
A DH house substation is a device needed in buildings supplied by DH to heat DHW
and/or determine the amount of heat transferred to the SH system. Moreover, the
substation provides the border between the primary side (DH side) and the secondary
side (house installations) very often needed to reduce temperature and/or pressure and
create hydronic separation of the primary and secondary sides.
14
Usually, the DHW part of the house substation consists of the HEX and controllers,
connected together with pipes and fittings, controlling the heating of the DHW to the
desired temperature.
Traditional high and medium-temperature DH house substations can be divided to two
groups:
•
•
Substations based on the instantaneous principle of DHW preparation (IHEU
= Instantaneous Heat Exchanger Unit), typical design heating power 32.3 kW
[22]
Substations with a DHW storage tank, design heating power depends on size
of the DHW storage tank
A substation based on the instantaneous principle of DHW heating produces DHW
only when needed (see Figure 3.3 left), whereas in a substation with a storage tank the
DHW is heated slowly and stored to be ready for use. DHW storage tanks are
generally used to reduce the design heating power needed for DHW preparation. In
the case of DH, they mean that the diameter of pipes in DH network can be reduced,
leading to reduced heat loss and also reduced peak heat power for DH heat sources.
The DH house substation can also provide a building with SH, either through an
additional HEX (indirect SH) or the DH water can be used directly in the SH system
(direct SH). House substations with a direct SH connection can also be equipped with
a mixing loop to reduce DH water temperature, often controlled by the outdoor
temperature and known as weather compensation. Design temperatures for the SH
part of the substation are more a question of the SH system than the substation, so
here the focus is on the DHW design temperatures.
T11
bypass
35°C
DHW
1
T22
T11
DHW
1
T22
T
2
T12
SH
2
T21
T21
T12
ON/OFF
SH
Figure 3.3 – Low-temperature DH substations; left: instantaneous DHW principle, i.e. IHEU [35], right:
storage tank for DH water, i.e. DHSU [25], [36]
The DHW HEX in traditional DH substations are designed for minimum DH
supply/return temperatures of 60/30°C (summer conditions of medium temperature
DH), whereas a low-temperature DH substation should work at the temperature levels
of 50/25°C and produce DHW of at least 45°C.
15
The use of low-temperature DH therefore requires some modification to:
•
•
•
The DHW HEX
The DHW controller
The DHW storage tank
DHW HEX
The key component of a low-temperature DH substation is a highly efficient HEX
with Micro Plate™ design of plates [37], specially developed for low supply
temperatures by Danfoss (see Figure 3.4). Compared to traditional HEX for high and
medium temperatures, the HEX for low-temperature DH should be more efficient
because the temperature difference between the DH water supplied and the DHW
produced is for design conditions only about 3°C (50°C/47°C) while in traditional
HEX it is as much as 10°C (60°C/50°C). Such a low temperature difference in the
case of low-temperature HEX is possible thanks to the special “dimpled” pattern of
the HEX’s plates, which in comparison with traditional fishbone corrugated plates
increases the heat transfer area and the overall heat transfer coefficient while
maintaining high cooling of primary water (i.e. low return temperature).
Figure 3.4 – The new Micro Plate™ design compared with the traditionally used fish bone design (courtesy
of Danfoss A/S)
Moreover changing the corrugation pattern reduces the pressure drop down to 65% of
traditional HEXs, making possible closer installation of individual plates and thus a
more compact size. An example of such a HEX is the XB37H or XB06H+
implemented in a low-temperature DH substation such as Akva Less II TD [35] or
Akva Les II S [38].
DHW controllers
The state-of-the-art DHW controller is a combined proportional-thermostatic DHW
controller with an integrated differential pressure controller and esaveTM function,
which ensures that the heat exchanger is cold during standby (period without DHW
tapping), e.g. PTC2+P [39]. At the first sight, it may be surprising that the controller
is a simple self-acting mechanical controller without any electronics, but the reason is
16
to make the product as simple as possible to reduce the cost, extend operation time
and eliminate possible malfunctions.
A DHW controller with a combined proportional-thermostatic function ensures that
when the customer asks for DHW, the DH flow is set to the maximum value until the
DHW reaches the desired temperature, when the DH flow drops to the value needed
to maintain the desired DHW temperature. This feature is very important at the
beginning of DHW tapping, when the DH water in the service pipes (pipe connecting
the DH pipe in the street with the DH substation in the building), the HEX and other
parts of the substation can be cold and a low flow could increase the waiting time for
DHW considerably. The differential pressure controller maintains constant differential
pressure across the control valve and thus enables the control valve to operate on
whole stroke (lift) giving the full control range.
DHW storage tank
To follow the German standard DVGW 551 [33], the water volume in the DHW
system cannot be more than 3L. This requirement will be not met by traditional
substations with a DHW storage tank, usually accounting for 100-150L. The solution
is to “move” the storage of DHW water to the primary side and store DH water
instead [25]. DHW is then prepared on the instantaneous principle in the HEX (see
Figure 3.3 right) as in the case of a house substation based on the instantaneous DHW
preparation principle. This solution is called District Heating Storage Unit (DHSU).
The unit with the buffer tank for DH water was originally designed to reduce the pipe
dimensions in the DH network to further reduce the heat loss, but [7] documented that
heat loss saved due to the reduced size of pipes in the DH network is lost by
additional heat loss from the DHW storage tank, so this solution, with higher
investment cost and higher space requirements, is suggested for use mainly on the
outskirts of DH networks experiencing capacity problems.
3.1.3 Waiting time for DHW and DH bypass
As mentioned in chapter 3.1.1, the waiting time for DHW delivery consists of time
needed for the DHW substation to produce DHW water (known as recovery time) and
the transportation time needed to transport the DHW produced by DHW pipes to the
tap.
The recovery time depends not only on the physical properties of the DHW HEX
(heat transfer properties, volume of water, the HEX’s mass), but also on the DHW
controller steering the flow of DH water, on the temperature of the DH water entering
the substation, and on the history of DHW tapping. The bigger the HEX, the longer
the waiting time, because DH water needs to heat up more thermal capacity (water
and the HEX’s mass) before DHW with the desired temperature is produced.
Similarly, the longer the time since the previous DHW tapping, the more time is
needed because the HEX has cooled down. To speed up the heat flow from the DH at
the beginning of tapping, the state-of-the-art proportional-thermostatic DHW
17
controller opens the DH flow to the maximum, until the desired DHW temperature is
reached, and then throttles down just to maintain the desired DHW temperature.
However, this description is fully valid only for a house substation with a buffer tank
for DH water (DHSU), where the temperature of DH water supplied to the DHW
HEX is expected from the very first moment to be 50°C, because the DH water is
stored in the buffer tank. The situation is different for the substation with
instantaneous DHW preparation (IHEU), because the HEX is supplied by DH water
taken directly from the DH network. During the non-heating season, the DH water
standing in the supply service pipe can cool down as a result of there being no heat
demand in the building. This will extend the recovery time of the substation. To
prevent the cooling down of the supply service pipe, the traditional solution is to
maintain a small flow of DH water and “bypass” (see Figure 3.5) it back to the DH
network just on the border of the DH substation (external bypass) or to let the DH
water flow through the DHW HEX (internal bypass) by installing the bypass valve in
the house substation. Having a bypass valve installed in each house substation is a
better solution than having a bypass valve installed only at the end of each street pipe,
because it keeps the supply service pipe warm for each customer.
primary
side
substation
DHW
HEX
T11
secondary
side
T22
T11
external
bypass
35 (40) °C
1
DHW
HEX
T22
T11
DHW
HEX
T
2
PTC2+P
controller
no bypass
2
2
T21
T12
T22
1
1
T
diff. pressure
controller
internal
bypass
47°C
T21
T12
PTC2+P
controller
space heating
circuit
external bypass
T21
T12
IHPT
controller
internal bypass
Figure 3.5 – Various bypass strategies for IHEU; left: no bypass; middle: external bypass (cold HEX) with
set-point temperature 35°C; right: internal bypass (warm HEX) with set-point temperature 47°C (defined
by DHW set-point 45°C)
Both types of bypass reduce the waiting time for DHW, but bypassing DH water back
to the DH network without proper cooling increases the heat loss from the DH
network. The typical set-point temperature used for the external bypass in a lowtemperature DH network is 35°C except for the buildings at the end of the streets,
where the set-point temperature is increased to 40°C required by missing subsequent
customers. The internal by-pass offers shorter waiting time for DHW after idling of
substation, but this is paid for by higher heat consumption for its operation and greater
heat loss from the HEX which is kept always warm. Furthermore, in some countries
keeping the DHW HEX warm is seen as a solution that increases the risk of
Legionella growth, so it is not very much used. Another disadvantage in using an
internal bypass is reduction in efficiency of the HEX developing in time in medium
18
DH by sedimentation on the DHW side from maintaining the HEX at higher
temperature.
However, the temperature of DH water supplied to the house substation in the very
first moments after a period without heat demand or during bypass operation is also
influenced by the thermal capacity and transportation time in the service pipe. Let’s
consider a substation based on the instantaneous DHW principle without an external
bypass just after DHW tapping performed during a non-heating period. There is no
flow and the supply service pipe (SP) is full of 50°C DH water, which means that the
DH water in the service pipe will cool homogenously over the whole length in
accordance with the cooling curves reported by Dalla Rosa [40], presented in Figure
3.6 (left). It can be seen that, for the AluFlex 20/20/110 pipe surrounded by soil with a
temperature of 8°C, the DH water standing in the service pipe will homogenously
cool down to 20°C in 180 minutes.
55
SP cooling "COMSOL", Tg=3°C
Temp. DH water delivered to SUB [°C]
Temp. of DH water in service pipe [°C]
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
50
45
40
Tini = 20°C, 17.3L/min
35
Tini = 20°C, 14L/min
30
Tini=20°C, 8.4 L/min
25
Tini=35°C, 17.3L/min
20
15
0
90 180 270 360 450 540 630 720
Time [min]
0
10
20
30
40
50
Time [s]
Figure 3.6 – left: Cooling down of DH water standing in an AluFlex 20/20/110 service pipe during idling.
The initial temperature of water in pipe is 50°C, and the initial temperature of the insulation is 15°C ; right:
Effect of the thermal capacity of an AluFlex 20/20/110 service pipe during reheating of the pipe
After 180 minutes, the customer opens the DHW tap again and “fresh” DH water at
50°C starts to flow to the 10 m long service pipe from the DH distribution pipe in the
street while the cooled DH water standing in the supply service pipe will enter the
substation. It means that the delivery of fresh DH water in the substation will be
postponed by a transportation delay. Furthermore, thanks to the thermal capacity of
the service pipe wall, being at the initial moment at 20°C, the DH water supplied will
be cooled down for some period at the beginning of tapping. Therefore, depending on
the flow rate of the DH water (defined by DHW controller) and the initial temperature
of the service pipe, it will take some time before the DH water with a temperature of
50°C reaches the inlet to the substation, as can be seen in Figure 3.6-(right), showing
results based on code of Dalla Rosa reported in [40]. During this period the substation
will be supplied with DH water cooled by standing in the supply service pipe,
increasing the recovery time of the substation. For the AluFlex 20/20/110 service pipe
10 m long and IHEU controlled with combined proportional-temperature DHW
19
controller [39] the initial DH flow rate is 17.3 L/min and it will take almost 7.5 s to
deliver DH water at 45°C and roughly another 20 s to deliver 50°C warm DH water to
the DH substation. The influence of service pipe thermal capacity on the bypass
operation is similar.
3.1.4 Low-temperature DH substation with integrated heat pump
As already discussed, the minimum DH temperature of 50°C is in case of lowtemperature DH defined by the requirement to produce 45°C DHW without an
additional energy source. However, if we go even further in accord with the recent
trend in DH development, which is characterised by reducing heat loss in the DH
network and the integration of more RES, the DH supply temperature can be lowered
even more if there is an auxiliary energy source in each substation.
This idea is behind the concept of low-temperature DH heating with the supply
temperature reduced to 35-40°C, but deploying a small heat pump installed in each
substation to lift the DHW temperature to the desired temperature of 45°C [16], [41].
The heat source for the heat pump is the DH water, meaning that the temperature
increase required is very small, resulting in a high coefficient of performance (COP).
The heat pump lifts only the DHW part, because the supply temperature of 40°C is
expected to be enough for space heating of low-energy buildings designed with floor
heating or low-temperature radiators. For two identical DH networks designed with
the same pipe diameters reduction of DH supply temperature from 80°C to 40°C
results in a 35% reduction in heat loss.
Figure 3.7 – Principle of low-temperature DH substation combined with micro heat pump [41].
During the development phase of the substation, few variants were analysed [41]. The
variants differed in the location and size of the DHW storage tank (primary/secondary
side), location of the heat pump evaporator/condenser (DH supply/return), and in
exploring the possibility of using heating water returning from the SH system. The
variants were evaluated from the perspective of the COP of the heat pump, exergy and
maximal flow and cooling of the DH water. To get a high COP for the heat pump, the
temperature of the DHW should be kept as low as possible and therefore, applying the
same philosophy as for low-temperature DH, the DHW is produced with the
temperature of 45°C, which means the DHW system must have a volume below 3L.
As the solution with the best performance was evaluated the variant with the
20
condenser and evaporator on the primary side, boosting the DH water up to 53°C,
which is then stored in the buffer tank for DH water. DHW is then heated on the basis
of the instantaneous principle in a Micro Plate™ HEX as in case of DHSU. The
prototype was built and tested in laboratory conditions with an average COP of 5.3.
Full-scale testing of five units is currently going on in Birkerød, Denmark [16]. This
concept is expected to be beneficial for DH network outskirts that experience
problems with a supply temperature drop.
3.1.5 DHW systems supplied by low-temperature DH
Single-family houses with low volume DHW system
In small DHW systems, such as for single-family houses, the risk of Legionella can be
kept low by reducing the overall water volume below 3L [33]. This mean maximum
DHW pipe lengths of 38 m (with inner diameter 10 mm) or 15 m with DN15 pipe,
which is enough for a single-family house if the location of all DHW tapping points is
planned during the design phase of the house. Proper location of the tapping points
also means there is no need for DHW circulation, which is another source of energy
losses. The low-temperature DH substation could be either instantaneous heat
exchanger unit (IHEU) [35] or district heating storage unit (DHSU) [36], [25],
depending mainly on the requirements of the DH utility.
Supply of existing single-family houses
For DHW systems in buildings currently supplied by traditional DH, low-temperature
DH will require replacing existing DH substations originally designed for minimal
DH supply temperatures of 60/30°C with low-temperature substations designed for
50/25°C. The cheapest solution is just to replace the current HEX with a new lowtemperature HEX, but an optimal solution also requires the DHW controller to be
state-of-the-art, so it is easier to replace the whole substation. In buildings equipped
with traditional DHW storage tanks, it is not possible just to replace the HEX and
keep the current storage tank with its inner heating coil, because the volume of DHW
is more than 3 L and DHW can no longer be heated up to the 55°C required by the
standard [22]. So the solution is to replace the whole DH substation with the lowtemperature version. An alternative and also cheaper solution could be to turn the
DHW storage tank into the buffer tank for storage of DH water and add a lowtemperature HEX on the outlet, but this solution is not always possible because the
DHW storage tank needs to have been designed to withstand the pressure on the DH
side, easily reaching up to 16 bars. In DHW systems with DHW volume in the pipes
above 3L, the existing DHW pipes need to be replaced with smaller diameter pipes
(preferably always connecting just one tapping place and the DHW source) to comply
with the 3L rule.
DHW in multi-storey buildings
The state-of-the-art for multi-storey buildings is the concept of flat or apartment
stations [42] (see Figure 3.8 - right), where each apartment has own substation, and
the DHW and SH pipes are in the individual flats laid out only in the horizontal
direction. In this way, each flat owner has complete control over the settings of the
21
DHW and SH systems, and all energy consumed is measured with just one meter. The
flat station concept fits perfectly with the concept of low-temperature DH, because a
properly designed DHW system in each flat will have a DHW volume below 3L.
Moreover, not having DHW and SH risers between the flats reduces noise
propagation.
Figure 3.8 – Comparison of DHW systems in multi-storey building [42]; left – traditional system with
vertical risers; right – flat station system
However DHW and SH in multi-storey buildings is traditionally distributed by
vertical risers, resulting in large water volumes. Delivering DHW with the desired
temperature and in reasonable time in such systems therefore requires DHW
circulation, in which the circulated DHW returns to the source of heat with a
temperature of at least 55°C [22]. With low-temperature DH, this is simply not
possible. The best solution would be the installation of individual flat stations, but this
would require extensive investments. Therefore if such traditional DHW multi-storey
systems are to be supplied by low-temperature DH, some kind of Legionella
elimination system will be needed.
One promising solution might be a new system for the elimination of Legionella in
DHW systems with temperature below 50°C that has recently been tested on 10 multifamily houses in Sweden with good results [26]. The system works on the principle of
Advanced Oxidation Technology (AOT), in which ultraviolet (UV) lamps irradiate a
catalytic surface to form free radicals. The radicals then break down contaminants in
the water. The process occurs only inside the purifier and leaves no harmful residuals
in the water. One UV lamp is installed on the cold water supply to the DHW heat
exchanger and another UV lamp on the DHW circulation just before the heat
exchanger. The disadvantages of such a solution are the considerable investment and
running costs, because the lamps need to be changed once a year. Over the lifetime of
20 years, this amounts to about DKK 3800 per annum [43]. This solution might work
22
for DHW systems supplying several flats where the tenants share the costs, but is
currently too expensive as an alternative for use in single-family houses. Moreover,
the study concluded that the bacterial contaminants are found in almost all piping
systems, so the realistic vision should be to provide a technical solution to limit
Legionella growth to a low level rather than attempt complete elimination.
As an alternative solution in the DHW systems with DHW circulation could be seen a
thermal disinfection of circulating DHW with heat recovery (see Figure 3.9). Since
the DHW can be with LTDH heated only approximately to 47°C, the additional
source of heat is needed. This can be either small gas boiler or electric resistance
heater, boosting the temperature of DHW up to required temperature level (position
1). The required temperature will depend on the time period the DHW will spent in
the “reaction chamber” (position 2).
(2)
(3)
Reaction
chamber
(1)
Electric
heater
DHWC-in
DHWC-out
Figure 3.9 - Principle of thermal disinfection with heat recovery for LTDH. Calculation made by Danfoss
HEXcalc software [44]
The higher the temperature the shorter the needed reaction time [26]. While for 70°C
the reaction time to eliminate 99% of Legionella is 1 minute, for 60°C it is 5 minutes
and for 50°C it is 80 minuts. After the thermal disinfection, the DHW will flow
through the heat recovery (heat exchanger, position 3) where the disinfected DHW
will be cooled down by 47°C warm DHW returning from the DHW recirculation.
However even small DHW circulation flow as 0.1 L/s, requires considerable amount
of energy, i.e. 1.3 kWh/h, corresponding to 31 kWh/day and 11.4 MWh/a. Seen this
value from the perspective of 800 kWh/a as energy needed for DHW heating for one
person per year it corresponds to the annual energy demand for DHW for 14 people,
having very high cost. Considering the price of electricity 2 DKK/kWh the cost for
23
such solution is around 23000 DKK/year, while the expected annual running cost for
UV disinfection technology is 3800 DKK (energy demand 42W). The solution with
UV disinfection should be therefore preferred.
24
3.2 Delivery of DHW
3.2.1 Methods
This chapter describes methods used in the research only in general. A detailed
description is in ISI article “Numerical modelling and experimental measurements for
a low-temperature district heating substation for instantaneous preparation of DHW
with respect to service pipes” [24].
Based on a study of the literature, a minimum DHW temperature of 45°C and a
waiting time of 10 s were adopted.
Full-scale measurements of IHEU
The performance evaluation of a low-temperature house substation based on the
instantaneous principle (IHEU) and supplied with 50°C DH water focused on the
production of DHW with the required temperature in the required time with proper
cooling of DH water. The performance of an IHEU substation [35] equipped with a
PTC2+P controller for DHW was measured in well-defined conditions in the
laboratories of the Technical University of Denmark. The experimental setup is
shown in Figure 3.10.
primary side /
DTU water system
substation
secondary side
flowmeter
DHW
bypass
35°C
T11
Q1
cold water
5 cm
DHW
HEX
1
T
2
thermost.
mixing valve
T22
Q2
T21
T12
waste
5 cm
diff. pressure
controller
PTC2+P
controller
space heating
circuit
Figure 3.10 – Experimental setup for measurements of IHEU
We measured temperature of four water flows passing through the substation, flow
rates on primary and secondary sides and air temperature in the laboratory. It was
supply temperature T11 and return temperature T12 on primary side and the supply
temperature T21 (cold domestic water) and return temperature T22 (DHW) on the
secondary side. All temperatures were measured with previously calibrated
thermocouples type T. Water flow rates Q were measured on both sides with
traditional analogue flow meters. The substation was connected to the campus DHW
system by thermostatic mixing valve, providing the inlet of the substation with 50°C
water constantly.
First we adjusted the DHW controller to produce 47°C DHW to confirm it was
possible to achieve 45°C at the tap. The temperature of 47°C was chosen because it is
the required temperature of 45°C with the addition of 2°C to cover the effect of
25
cooled DHW pipes at the beginning of a tapping period. Then we left the substation to
cool down to the temperature of the ambient environment to simulate a long period
without tapping. After that, we started tapping DHW with a flow of 8.4L/min to
simulate DHW demand for showering with 40°C warm DHW and observed the
temperature development of the DHW produced, defining the recovery time of the
substation. The waiting time was defined as the time needed for the DHW to reach
40°C – a choice based on the consideration that at the beginning of DHW tapping the
DHW temperature drops by 2°C due to cooled DHW pipes and that 38°C is
considered as a comfortable temperature for DHW use.
Development of numerical model for IHEU
The realistic evaluation of the performance for the IHEU accounted also for the
impact of the DH network represented by the influence of the bypass solution and the
supply service pipe. Since it would be very difficult to measure the detailed
performance in a full-scale experiment, we combined few numerical models in one
and use it for this purpose. The philosophy of the model can be seen in Figure 3.11.
overall performance
substation | service pipe
HEX
DHW
controller
service
pipe
Figure 3.11 – Structure of model investigating waiting time for DHW in the DH substation without a
storage/buffer tank
The model we developed not only allowed investigation of the bypass performance,
but can also be used as a fast decision tool to customise a substation for various
requirements specified by DH utilities.
The numerical model of the IHEU substation was developed in MATLAB andSimulink [45] based on combination and update of earlier models of individual
components from Danfoss A/S. The model of the substation consists of a module
representing the HEX, a module representing the PTC2+P DHW controller, and
additional blocks representing the time delays in the pipes caused by the
transportation delay and their thermal capacity.
The model of the HEX is based on the model in Persson [46], where it is well
described. The model consists of three sections, and each section consists of a cold
and a hot side and the wall between them (see Figure 3.12).
26
side
hot cold
T =T
11
h1
T
h1,out
h2,out
=T
=T
T
=T
22
c1,in
c2
=T
h3,out
T
c2,out
h2,in
h3,in
c3,out
h3
T
=T
c1
h2
T
T
c1,out
h,1,in
c2,in
c3
=T
T =T
12
21
c3,in
T
w3
Figure 3.12 – Description of the numerical model of the HEX with three sections
The three sections model is considered to be accurate enough to model the overall
performance of a HEX [46]. The philosophy of HEX modelling is fundamentally
based on an energy balance between the primary (hot) and secondary (cold) side
including heat transfer through the wall separating the two sides, described by
equations (1)-(4).
Energy balance equation for cold medium:
T + Tc , out
d
( mc ⋅ c p , c ⋅ Tc , out ) = m& c ⋅ c p , c ⋅ (Tc , in − Tc , out ) − α c , w ⋅ Ac ⋅ ( c , in
− Tw ) (1)
dτ
2
Equation (1) rearranged and written for HEX-section 1:
T + Tc1, out
d
1
(Tc1,out ) =
⋅ [m& c ⋅ c p, c ⋅ (Tc1,in − Tc1, out ) − αc, w ⋅ Ac ⋅ ( c1, in
− Tw1 )] (2)
dτ
mc1 ⋅ c p, c
2
Energy balance equation for hot medium:
T + Th , out
d
( mh ⋅ c p , h ⋅ Th , out ) = m& h ⋅ c p , h ⋅ (Th , in − Th , out ) − α h , p ⋅ Ah ⋅ ( h , in
− Tw ) (3)
dτ
2
Energy balance equation for HEX plates:
T + Th , out
T + Tc , out
d
(mw ⋅ c p , w ⋅ Tw ) = α h / w ⋅ Ah ⋅ ( h , in
− Tw ) − α c , w ⋅ Ac ⋅ ( c , in
− Tw ) (4)
dτ
2
2
27
where:
Ac
total plate area on the
cold side in one section
[m2]
Tc,in
temperature of water
coming into the section
[°C]
cp,c
specific heat capacity of
water
[J/(kg.K)]
Tc,out
temperature of water
leaving the section
[°C]
mc
mass of water in the
section
[kg]
Tw
average wall temperature
in the section
[°C]
ṁc
mass flow of water
through the section
[kg/s]
αc,w
convective heat transfer
coefficient
[W/(m2.K)]
mw
total mass of plates in the
section
[kg]
δp
distance between
individual HEX plates
[m]
Pr
Prandtl number
[-]
λw
thermal conductivity of
water
[W/(m.K)]
Re
Reynolds number
[-]
This approach adopts some simplifications: no heat conduction between the sections
in the direction of water flow, negligible heat resistance in the HEX walls, and no heat
losses to the surroundings. However, their influence on the accuracy in this
application is negligible. The original model was updated with input parameters
representing HEX XB37H used in the tested substation.
The adopted model of PTC2+P DHW controller (see Figure 3.13) was modelled as a
numerical description of all individual mechanical parts (springs, bellow elements,
valves, friction resistance, etc.) with the parameters given by the manufacturer.
Figure 3.13 – PTC2+P DHW controller [39], courtesy of Danfoss A/S.
The model is property of manufacturer and the manufacturer doesn’t want to present
the model in more details. Part of the implementation of IHEU to the MATLAB
Simulink can be seen in Figure 3.14.
28
Figure 3.14 –Part of the Simulink model of the IHEU substation – detail on HEX model
The overall model of IHEU was successfully verified with the data from laboratory
measurements, under both steady-state and dynamic conditions (see Figure 3.15 and
Table 3-1). Figure 3.15 shows the results obtained from the measurements of recovery
time for the IHEU and compare them with the results from the numerical model
developed for the same initial conditions. It can be seen that the model is in good
agreement with the measured data (compare curves T22sim with T22meas and T12sim
with T12meas) and can therefore be used. Numerical values are reported in Table 3-1:
case M for measurements and case 0 for the simulation.
29
55
50
50
45
Q1 meas. [L/min]
T11 meas
T22 meas.
T12 sim
35
30
40
Q2 meas. [L/min]
T21 meas.
T12 meas
T22 sim
30
25
20
20
Flow [L/min]
Temperature [°C]
40
15
10
10
5
0
0
0
10
20
30
Time [sec]
40
50
60
Figure 3.15 – Comparison of experimentally measured “meas” and numerically simulated “sim”
temperatures T22 and T12 for an IHEU equipped with a PTC2+P controller for the same input data
Influence of service pipes and bypass solutions
The influence of the supply service pipe without the bypass on the recovery time of
the house substation was discussed in section 3.1.3, but if a bypass solution is used, its
influence needs to be added. It must be stressed that the bypass solution is active only
in periods without a need for heating, i.e. in non-heating periods. The bypass flow is
usually controlled by a thermostatic valve FJVR [47], controlled on the basis of the
temperature of the passing fluid, and installed just after the inlet to the IHEU (see
Figure 3.18a). To ensure the stability of the control process, the valve has a neutral
zone (deadband) of ±2.5°C. For a set-point temperature of 35°C, this means that the
valve opens when the temperature of the fluid drops below 32.5°C and closes when
the temperature reaches 37.5°C. The neutral zone therefore results in intermittent
operation of the valve also called “pulse” mode.
By recurrent application of the cooling curves for cooling of DH water in service
pipes combined with the numerical code for the dynamic heat transfer in the service
pipes [40], both developed by Dalla Rosa (already described in section 3.1.3), we
obtained a temperature profile along the 10 m long AluFlex 20/20/110 service pipe
(Figure 3.16) for the case of an IHEU with an external bypass. We assumed constant
50°C DH water at the beginning of the service pipe (maintained by heat demand of
previous/following DH customers) and a bypass flow rate of 3L/min in periods when
the bypass was opened.
30
after 1st cooling
after 2nd cooling
after 3rd cooling
after 4th cooling
after 1st bypass
after 2nd bypass
after 3rd bypass
continuous flow 50-35°C
50
47,5
45
y = -1,4948x + 49,424
R² = 0,9968
Temperature in SP[°C]
42,5
40
37,5
35
32,5
30
0
2
4
Position [m]
6
8
10
Figure 3.16 - Temperature profile along a 10 m long SP AluFlex 20/20/110 for an IHEU equipped with an
external bypass in traditional and continual operation modes. Traditional bypass: set-point 35°C, deadband
±2.5°C, bypass flow rate 3 L/min, Tground=14°C. Continual bypass: temperature drop 50-35°C, flow rate
0.024 L/min, Tground=14 C.
The figure shows development of the temperature profile along 10 m long supply
service pipe for few time slices. It can be seen that the temperature of DH water
standing in the pipe varies depending on how many times the bypass valve has opened
since the previous tapping. First, the pipe is full of 50°C hot water as result of just
finished DHW tapping. The water in the pipe cools down uniformly to the
temperature of 32.5°C in 82 minutes (curve “after first cooling”), which opens the
external bypass and DH water starts to flow into the substation. Considering the fact
that the service pipe was prior to bypass valve opening at 32.5°C and now the water
with 50°C started to flow results is cooling of the bypass water front. The bypass flow
stop after the water front with temperature 37.5°C reaches the bypass valve and stops
the flow (curve “after first bypass”). Then the water in the service pipe cools down
again (curve “after 2nd cooling”) and the procedure is repeated.
Knowledge on DH water temperature in the service pipe in every time makes possible
to use water temperature history as an input data for the IHEU model taking in to the
consideration also influence of service pipe and external bypass.
Figure 3.16 also shows the temperature profile for a theoretical bypass controller
providing continuous flow without the deadband. The temperature profile along the
pipe in steady state conditions was obtained from equation [49]
( )
=
+
−
31
exp −
.
.
(5)
where Td(x) represents temperature of bypassed water at the location in question, Tu
temperature of bypassed water at the beginning of the service pipe and Tg represents
ground temperature, x represents x-coordinate of the investigated point measured
from the beginning of service pipe [m], ṁ is the mass flow rate [kg/s] of bypassed
water, U is thermal transmittance of the pipe [W/(m.K)], cp is specific heat of water
[J/(kg.K)].
First the needed mass flow ṁ was calculated for the boundary conditions Td=35°C,
Tu=50°C, Tg=8°C, x=10 m, U=0.089 W/(m.K) and afterwards the mass flow was used
to calculate the temperature profile along the pipe (shown in Figure 3.16).
The results of Dalla Rosa et al. [50] show that continuous bypass without deadband
bypasses only needed amount of water to keep the inlet to the substation on 35°C,
meaning roughly 30% less water volume than traditional external bypass with dead
band, and thus saving up to 30% of heat loss from the service pipe. Moreover, it
maintains the temperature at the inlet to the substation continuously at 35°C, so it
would be expected to reduce the maximum length of heat recovery.
Simulated cases
The bypass influence on the recovery time of the IHEU including the service pipe was
simulated for the following cases:
1) No bypass – water in supply service pipe cools down during non-heating
season
2) Traditional external bypass controlled by FJVR valve and set-point
temperature of 35°C, operating in pulse mode
3) Continuous bypass – constant continuous bypass flow ensuring 35°C at the
inlet of substation
The case without the bypass investigated whether it is possible to operate an IHEU
during non-heating period without a bypass solution and how long it will take to
produce DHW with the desired temperature if the service pipe is full of 20°C or 35°C
DH water at the beginning of DHW tapping. The second case considered the use of an
external bypass solution with a set-point temperature of 35°C, modelled as an on/off
controller with a deadband of ±2.5°C simulating the performance of a real external
bypass. The last case was an external bypass modelled with a hypothetic thermostatic
controller without the deadband, keeping inlet to substation with continuous flow on
35°C, which was expected to result in lower heat loss from the service pipe.
3.2.2 Results and Discussion
Regarding the risk of Legionella and comfort for occupants study of the literature
gave a good indication on the feasibility of delivering DHW at the tap with a
temperature of 45°C if the overall volume of the DHW system is below 3L.
32
3.2.2.1 Performance of IHEU
The laboratory measurements confirmed that the tested low-temperature DH
substation with instantaneous heat exchanger principle can from 50°C DH water
produce DHW with 47°C, while cool down DH water to 20°C.
Table 3-1 shows the recovery times of the IHEU for DHW with various temperature
and different boundary conditions as results from the numerical model. The first two
lines compares recovery time for experimental measurements with numerical model
with the same input conditions and it documents that the model describes with good
agreement performance of the IHEU. The lower part of Table 3-1 reports the recovery
time for the IHEU with the influence of the service pipe (SP), while the upper part
excludes this influence.
Table 3-1 – Recovery time for IHEU for various boundary conditions
recovery time of IHEU [s] to produce DHW with temperature
With service pipe
Without serivce pipe
Case
Description
30°C
35°C
40°C
42°C
45°C
M
experimental measurement
4.1
6.0
9.1
10.8
15.8
0
verification of num. model
4.6
6.3
8.6
10.0
13.1
1
pure recovery time, T11=50°C, HEX20
3.7
4.9
6.5
7.3
9.4
2
pure recovery time, T11=50°C, HEX40
4.1
5.5
7.4
8.55
10.9
3
continual bypass 50°C - 35°C
5.7
7.7
10
11.3
14.1
4
ext. bypass before 2nd bypass flow
5.9
8.7
11.0
12.4
15.5
5
ext. bypass before 3rd bypass flow
7.2
9.5
11.9
13.2
16.4
6
without bypass – water in SP on 35°C
7.2
9.8
12.3
13.6
16.9
7
without bypass – water in SP on 20°C
11.0
12.7
15.2
16.7
20.9
Excluding the influence of the service pipe, the recovery time to produce 40°C DHW
is 7.4 s if the substation is left idle for a period long enough for all components to cool
down to 20°C. The recovery time to produce 40°C is reduced to 6.5 s when the DHW
HEX is changed to 20 plates instead of 40 plates. Use of a DHW HEX with 20 plates
slightly increases the return temperature of DH water from 19.1°C to 21.8°C, but this
value is still in the acceptable range and is justified by the fact that the amount of
material is halved and the price of the HEX is reduced.
Taking into account influence of 10 m long service pipe (Aluflex 20/20/110), filled
with DH water cooled to 20°C by a long period of idling (case 7), the time needed for
the IHEU to produce 40°C warm DHW without an external bypass increases to 15 s
(see Table 3-1). Moreover, the transportation time needed to deliver DHW to a
shower at the end of a 2.2 m pipe is an additional 1.2 s. Taken together, this gives a
waiting time of more than 17 s, meaning discomfort for the customer as well as
wasting water while waiting for DHW with the desired temperature. With the
33
deployment of an external bypass with a set-point temperature of 35°C (case 4 and 5),
the recovery time decreases by 3-4 s, depending on the bypass phase (see Figure
3.16). Using continuous flow with a set-point temperature of 35°C (case 3) will
decrease the recovery time by another 1 s.
These results might give the impression that the use of external bypass saves only 3.5
s on average, i.e. 22% of the waiting time, but it should be pointed out that a bypass
installed in the substation has also crucial importance for keeping the whole network
warm and thus is relevant not only for the service pipe of individual customers but for
whole DH network. Comparison of DHW waiting times with traditional DH
substations is not available.
For tested substation, the recovery time could be further shortened by reducing the
thermal mass (metal components) and water content, e.g. using DHW HEX with 20
plates instead of 40 and reducing the size of fittings (pipes and armatures) in the
substation or alternatively making the components from plastic. Another alternative
could be an internal bypass to keep the DHW HEX warm, but for low-temperature
applications such a solution is not currently available because the self-acting
controller used for this solution in traditional DH needs higher difference between the
DH supply and the DHW set-point temperature, as mentioned in [51]. This has also
been confirmed by laboratory test [24].
The waiting time for DHW in older systems was very short if the pipes were kept
continuously warm and ready to use. This resulted in high comfort for customers, but
at the same time in high heat losses from the system. Therefore the energy efficiency
question arises in connection with the validity of the 10 s waiting time limit for
customers, calling for full-scale investigation.
3.2.3 Conclusions
•
Based on the literature study it is concluded that in the DHW systems with
overall volume below 3L is no requirement of minimal DHW temperature
regarding increased risk of Legionella. Therefore the minimal DHW
temperature is defined by requirements for comfort, i.e. 45°C.
•
Laboratory test of low-temperature DH substation confirmed that the
substation can produce DHW with 47°C from 50°C warm DH while cooling
the DH water to 20°C. These results therefore justify temperature level of
50°C as a minimal supply temperature of low-temperature DH for the
buildings without additional on-site heating source for DHW.
•
Developed numerical model of low-temperature DH substation with
instantaneous type of DHW production, including influence of service pipes
was successfully validated with laboratory measurements and documents
importance of accounting the effect from service pipes to the overall
evaluation of the substation performance.
34
•
To prevent increase of the waiting time for DHW, the supply service pipe
should be kept warm by bypassing small flow of DH water. With external
thermostatic bypass set to 35°C, the 10 s waiting time for 50°C DHW
recommended by Danish DHW standard is doubled, but DHW with sufficient
temperature 40°C is prepared in 11 s and just slightly exceeding the required
value. Therefore it is suggested to revise the required waiting time for DHW
while consider reduction of DHW temperature and DH supply temperature.
•
The waiting time for DHW can be further slightly reduced by installation of
continuous bypass, operating in comparison to the traditional thermostatic
bypass without deadband and thus keeping the inlet to the substation always
on 35°C
•
Developed numerical model can be further used for optimisation of whole
low-temperature DH concept and the DH substations as well.
35
3.3 Cost-efficient Use of Bypassed DH Water in Bathroom
Floor Heating
The results from the numerical simulations of a low-temperature DH substation with
instantaneous principle of DHW heating (IHEU) showed that to provide DHW in
reasonable time during a non-heating period, a bypass solution needs to be applied.
Since the traditional bypass solutions redirect the bypass flow back to the DH network
almost without cooling and thus increasing the heat loss from DH network, we
investigated the feasibility of making the bypass more energy- and cost-efficient. We
chose the option of redirecting the bypass flow to bathroom floor heating in order to
force the additional cooling of bypassed water resulting in a reduction of heat loss
from the DH network and possibly improving efficiency of the heat sources while
giving the sensation of a warm floor to the users. This concept is referred to as the
“comfort bathroom” (CB).
This chapter gives summary of the second ISI paper “Energy-Efficient and Cost
Effective In-House Substations Bypass for Improving Thermal and DHW Comfort in
Bathrooms in Low-Energy Buildings Supplied by Low-Temperature District Heating”
[29] where all details can be found.
3.3.1 Methods
3.3.1.1 Modelling of external bypass
To investigate the realistic performance of a bypass flow redirected to the bathroom
floor heating, it was necessary to model the bypass solution first.
The bypass flow needed to keep the inlet to substation on desired temperature (in our
case 35°C) is changing based on the location of the customer in the DH network. The
closer the customer is to the heat source, the higher the temperature of DH water on
the beginning of the service pipe, because the water travelled shorter distance and thus
cooled down less. To reflect this phenomenon we modelled performance of bypass for
three different locations in the DH network. The locations were chosen as the
locations with DH water temperature at the beginning of the service pipe 50°C, 40°C
and 37.5°C during the bypass period and thus representing the customers located
close, middle and far distance from the heat source. The example of such customers
is shown in Figure 3.17, as result of Termis network simulations (described later in
the text).
36
Figure 3.17 – Example of continuous bypass flow needed to keep inlet to substation on 35°C for the
customer in close, middle and far location from the heating plant; network represents low-temperature
district heating project in Lystrup, Denmark [7]
We used again numerical model developed by Dalla Rosa [40] to model traditional
external thermostatic bypass valve FJVR sending the bypass flow in pulses, but we
modelled also continuous bypass flow (see section 3.2.1. equation (5)), which can be
in real realised by a needle valve, i.e. a valve with precisely adjustable flow. The
continuous flow provided by a needle valve was based on the previous results
expected to reduce volume of bypass water (and thus also the heat loss) needed to
keep the inlet to substation on 35°C by 30%. We assumed 10 m long service pipe
Aluflex 20/20/110, ground temperature 8°C and bypass set-point temperature 35°C.
The results of the numerical simulations showed, that the continuous flow needed to
keep the inlet to substation on 35°C is for the customers located in close, middle and
far distance from the heat plant 1.77 kg/s, 4.68 kg/s and 9.36 kg/s respectively. Pulse
bypass was modelled with bypass flow 0.5 kg/min and dead band of 3°C, but only for
customers located in close and in middle distance to the heat plant. The results show
that the pulse (intermittent) bypass operates in both locations every 15 minutes. For
the close location is opened for approximately 70 s in each cycle and bypasses 0.65L,
which corresponds to 2.6 kg/h and for the middle location is the bypass flow opened
for approximately 213 s and bypasses in each cycle roughly 1.8 kg, i.e. 7.1 kg/h. The
results are therefore in accordance with the expected results that the volume of
bypassed water is for thermostatic bypass with pulse flow 50% higher than for
continuous bypass flow controlled by the needle valve without the deadband.
3.3.1.2 Technical solutions for Comfort Bathroom
Various technical proposals for redirecting and controlling the bypass flow for
bathroom floor heating have been developed (see Figure 3.18). Some of the solutions
were implemented with a traditional thermostatic bypass valve, type FJVR [47]
supplying a floor heating loop with the intermittent water “pulses” and others with a
37
needle valve providing “continuous flow”. Apart from the difference in control
valves, the technical proposals also differed for directly and indirectly connected
space heating systems and took into account the presence of a mixing loop for
adjusting the supply temperature.
Figure 3.18 – Technical solution for CB implementation. Direct SH system without mixing loop: a) reference
case without CB, with traditional external bypass; b) CB realised with a needle valve (installed in parallel to
TRV valve on supply pipe or in parallel to FJVR valve on the return pipe of FH loop); c) CB realised with a
FJVR bypass valve. Direct SH system with mixing loop: d) CB realised with a FJVR bypass valve; e) CB
realised with a needle valve and capillary tube. Indirect SH system: f) CB realised with FJVR bypass valve.
Reference case without CB
Figure 3.18a show original connection scheme of direct space heating system with
floor heating (FH) in the bathroom, controlled either on supply pipe by traditional
thermostatic valve (TRV) [52], with the thermostatic head sensing operative
temperature in the room or by the thermostatic return valve [47] installed in the
technical room on the return pipe of the FH loop, usually operated with set-point
temperature 25°C. The bypass solution is provided by traditional thermostatic
bypass valve FJVR [47] (same as the thermostatic return valve, just in another
position), redirecting the bypassed water back to the DH network.
CB controlled with needle valve
This solution is expected to reduce the volume of bypassed water by 30% in
comparison to the traditional thermostatic bypass valve with deadband. CB concept is
realised by installing the needle valve in parallel to the thermostatic return valve and
38
thus keeping the constant bypass flow through the FH loop (see Figure 3.18b). For the
winter periods when the bypass flow through the needle is not enough, the additional
flow can pass through the thermostatic return valve. Similar solution can be applied
also in the floor heating loop controlled by TRV, just on the supply pipe of the FH.
The traditional external bypass valve is from the DH substation removed. The
advantage of this solution is very fast and cheap installation for the solution with
thermostatic return valve if installed in the technical room, but the drawback is lack of
“automatic stop” of the bypass flow for the periods when the temperature of bypassed
water exceed 35°C. This happens with every tapping of DHW, filling the service pipe
with 50°C warm DH water. After this happens the bathroom FH is supplied with
water with unnecessarily high temperature for approximately 45 minutes before the
temperature in the service pipe drops back to 35°C (as can be seen in Figure 3.19).
CB controlled with thermostatic bypass valve
CB concept in FH loops controlled by TRV (see Figure 3.18c) can be easily realised
by moving the thermostatic bypass valve from its original position into the new
position, parallel to TRV valve. In this setup, the thermostatic bypass valve performs
as in original solution, but the bypass water is cooled down in the bathroom FH. The
thermostatic bypass valve can be installed either in parallel to the TRV valve in the
bathroom, or in the technical room. The second solution is more precise regarding
setting of required bypass set-point temperature thanks to its position in the
substation, but on the other hand it requires installation of additional pipe between the
DH substation and TRV controller. It should be mentioned that by using the
thermostatic bypass valve to control the bypass flow, the advantage of 30% reduction
of bypass flow is lost.
SH systems with mixing loop (direct SH) or heat exchanger (indirect SH)
Figure 3.18d-f shows installation of the CB concept to the substations with possibility
of controlling the supply temperature to the SH loop. In Figure 3.18d is presented
solution for directly connected SH system with mixing loop and bathroom heating
controlled by TRV. In this case the CB flow is continuously bypassed through the
thermostatic bypass valve, installed in parallel to the main control valve and TRV
controlling the FH loop. Using of bypass flow in the FH controlled by the
thermostatic return valve can be made similar (see Figure 3.18e), by bypassing the
main control valve and installation of needle valve in parallel to the thermostatic
return valve. However for bypassing the main control valve is not used thermostatic
bypass valve, but capillary tube. Realization in the SH system with indirect
connection is show in Figure 3.18f, again by installation of thermostatic bypass valve
bypassing the main control valve and subsequent installation the needle valve in
parallel to the FH controller.
39
3.3.1.3 Modelling of CB
Some of the solutions presented in Figure 3.18 were investigated on an example of
157m2 single-family house built in accordance with Danish building requirements
class 2015 [53], meaning that the annual energy demand, accounting for space
heating, DHW heating, and operation of HVAC systems should be after accounting
for primary energy factors below 37 kWh/(m2.a). The house has ten rooms and two
bathrooms (8.3 and 4.3 m2) and the CB concept was installed in both of them (see
Figure 4.4). The ventilation rate for the house was based on the BR10 requirements
dimensioned to 216 m3/h and the heat recovery in the ventilation system has 85%
efficiency. The windows in the house were shaded with the external blinds (with g
value of 0.14) and drawn when the solar irradiation exceeded 300 W/m2. Moreover all
windows were shaded with 0.5 m deep roof overhang. The venting of the house by
opening the windows started when the indoor temperature exceeded 24°C and stopped
when the temperature drop below 22°C. However the windows couldn’t be open
when the occupants were not at home, i.e. during working days between 8 a.m. and 3
p.m. The overall internal heat gains (people + equipment) in the whole house were
modelled with value of 5 W/m2, but the heat gains from the bathrooms were
transferred to the living room and kitchen, because based on Molin et. al. [54] the
internal heat gains in the bathroom are negligible.
Performance of developed technical solutions implementing the CB concept was
evaluated by advanced level of IDA-ICE, version 4.22 [55]. The advanced level is an
object-based interface (similar to MATLAB-Simulink) which allows the use of
detailed component models and development of your own models, e.g. a mixing loop.
3.3.1.4 Detailed modelling of bypass flow in the CB and influence of DHW
tapping
As already mentioned, bypass flow needed in case with the needle valve to keep inlet
to substation on 35°C is 30% lower than the bypass flow needed by the thermostatic
bypass valve with 3°C deadband, but on the other hand the needle valve is missing the
possibility to stop the bypass flow when the temperature increases over the desired
bypass temperature, i.e. in our case 35°C. Such increase happens during and after
every DHW tapping, because the supply service pipe is full of 50°C DH water, and it
takes around 45 minutes until the temperature in the service pipe cools down back to
35°C, as it can be seen in Figure 3.19. The black curve indicates DHW tapping,
occurring every third hour for the period of five minutes and the dotted red curve the
decrease of the temperature of bypass flow from 50°C back to 35°C, which takes
approximately 45 minutes.
40
20
50
15
45
10
40
5
35
0
4488
4490
Tsupp [°C]
flow [kg/h]
30
4492
time [s]
DHW tapping
needle 1.77 - flow [kg/h]
needle 1.77 - Tin [°C]
a
FJVR pulse 2.6 - flow [kg/h]
FJVR pulse 2.6 - Tin [°C]
Figure 3.19 – Influence of DHW tapping on the temperature and flow rate of DH bypass water on the inlet
to substation, when controlled by needle valve and thermostatic bypass valve
The figure also shows the water mass flow for both bypass solutions. It can be seen
that the bypass water is in case of thermostatic bypass valve supplied to the floor
heating in pulses every 15 minutes, but the bypass flow is stopped during and after
each DHW tapping. Therefore it is expected, that advantage of the 30% lower flow
rate in case of needle valve will change when considering the DHW tapping.
Furthermore it is expected that the pulse and continuous delivery of the bypass flow
have influence on heat transferred to the FH.
Normally the FH is in IDA-ICE modelled as one FH element, simulating performance
based on the logarithmic mean average temperature and not giving the possibility to
see distribution of floor surface temperature. Therefore we divided bathroom floor to
81 FH elements, to make possible model also spatial distribution of the floor surface
temperature and the temperature drop along the heating pipe. However, the hydronic
connection of each element should be made manually with the preceding and
succeeding element and furthermore each of the elements should be manually
connected with four neighbouring elements to account also for the horizontal
conduction. Considering the number of manual connections, this solution is rather
time consuming and very vulnerable for mistakes and even we spent considerable
amount of time, we unfortunately haven’t succeed to build the model properly.
Therefore we decided to model the FH just as a one element.
To find out influence of DHW tapping on total bypassed volume for needle valve and
thermostatic bypass valve and the difference in pulse and continuous delivery of
bypass flow to the FH, we make comparison of several cases. To catch all the
dynamic of DHW tapping and pulse bypass flow, the simulations were performed
with maximal time step of 0.001 s. Due to the long computational time the
simulations were performed only for very short time periods, in range of days.
41
We modelled four different cases and all of them for two locations in the DH network
(close and middle distance from the heating plant) differing in the nominal bypass
flow.
•
•
The first modelled case was case of needle valve (for close located customer
with flow without DHW influence of 1.77 kg/h) providing continuous bypass
flow ( see Figure 3.20, triangle markers)
The second case was the thermostatic bypass valve, operating with pulses and
therefore with 50% higher volume of bypassed water (i.e. for the customer
located close to the heat plant the bypass flow without the DHW influence of
2.6 kg/h), (diamond markers)
To investigate also influence of pulse/continuous operation of bypass flow on
performance of FH, we modelled thermostatic bypass valve with continuous flow
instead of pulse, giving on average the same amount of bypassed DH water. This
simulation was made however for nominal bypass flow of 1.77 kg/h and 4.68 kg/h, to
investigate how it will look if the thermostatic valve retain “stop” function, while
remove the 50% higher bypassed volume as the result of removing 3°C dead band,
which can be in fact realised by electronically controlled bypass valve. Therefore the:
•
•
Third case is modelled as thermostatic bypass valve but with continuous flow
instead of pulse, giving on average nominal flow of 1.77 kg/h (circle markers)
Forth case as thermostatic bypass valve, modelled again with pulse flow, but
also for the nominal flow of 1.77 kg/h (square markers)
All the cases included influence of DHW tapping, performed every three house, daily
between 6 a.m. and 12 p.m.
Figure 3.20 - Comparison of: a) Tfloor and b) Tret in CB for two locations in the DH network modelled with
four different control strategies for the bypass flow, with the output for results in steps of 3.6 s.
Figure 3.20 compares the floor surface temperature (Tfloor) in the bathroom and the
return temperature of bypassed water (Tret) for two locations in the DH network (close
42
– lower part of the figure and middle distance from the heat plant - upper part of the
figure) for three modelled variants of the thermostatic bypass valve and compares
them with the continuous flow provided by a needle valve. First, it can be seen that
the needle valve (triangle marker) results in the highest floor and return temperatures
after DHW tapping (time h=4488 h), because it does not stop the flow of bypassed
water. Second, although the thermostatic bypass valve (diamond marker) nominal
flow was 50% higher than with the needle valve, the automatic stop function applied
during and after DHW tapping in fact results in lower average supply temperature and
thus in lower floor surface temperature and lower return temperature of bypass water
than with the needle valve, even the volume of bypassed water is still 7% higher. And
finally, there is a negligible difference in the floor surface temperature and the return
temperature of the bypass water between the thermostatic bypass valve modelled as
continuous (round marker) or pulse flow (square marker) as a result of floor thermal
mass. This finding therefore allows us to model the pulse thermostatic bypass valve
FJVR as a continuous flow without significant influence on the overall performance.
This saves computational time, because the simulation of pulse bypass needs time
steps small enough to catch the nature of the intermittent bypass (around 30 seconds)
while other parts of the model can be modelled with longer time steps.
3.3.1.5 Specification of modelled cases
We investigated CB solution applied to three locations in the DH network, resulting in
different bypass flows and for each of the location we applied between four and six
different solutions. The first solution (case 1) was the reference case, with traditional
external bypass, bypassing the DH water back to the DH network. The second case
(case 2) was solution also with traditional external bypass and without CB, but the FH
in the bathroom was controlled by thermostatic return valve, installed on the return
pipe of the FH loop with set-point temperature 25°C. This case was investigated in
order to compare if the traditionally used thermostatic return valve can be used instead
of CB. Both mentioned cases are depicted in Figure 3.18a. The CB solution realised
by needle valve is represented by case 3 (Figure 3.18b) and the CB solution realised
by thermostatic bypass valve (case 4) is shown in Figure 3.18c. The case number 5
can be described by the same figure, but it is hypothetical solution of electronically
controlled thermostatic bypass valve, combining advantages of needle valve and
thermostatic bypass valve by removing the deadband of self-acting controller. Finally,
the last investigated case (case 6) was installation of CB concept into the directly
connected space heating system with mixing loop (see Figure 3.18d). Overview of all
simulated cases can be found in Table 3-2, including definition of nominal bypass
flow rates.
43
Table 3-2 - Matrix of simulated cases
flow [kg/h]
case #
abbreviation
Tsup to CB
>35°C
1
noCB - FJVR
yes
2
noCB - external bypass
no
3
CB - needle valve
yes
4
CB – FJVR
no
5
CB - electr. step valve
no
6
CB - FJVR + mixing loop
no
- simulated
1.77
4.68
9.36
2.6
7.1
14.0
7.1
- not simulated
3.3.2.1 Floor heating without CB
Figure 3.21 shows floor surface temperature (Tfloor) and operative temperature (Top)
(comparable control strategies have the same markers) in bathrooms located in close
and middle distance from the DH heating plant during a two-day period for five
investigated cases. It is the reference case without FH (case 2 – black diamond
markers), the case with FH controlled in traditional manner by thermostatic return
valve with set-point temperature 25°C (case 1 - grey diamond markers) and case with
CB controlled by thermostatic bypass valve, modelled for two locations in the DH
network (case 4 - square markers for the customer located close and circle markers for
the customer located in the middle distance from the heating plant).
Figure 3.21 – Top and Tfloor in bathroom during non-heating period, considering various control of floor
heating system
First, we can see that for the reference case without FH in the bathroom, Top and Tfloor
are almost identical and lowest from the presented cases. The floor temperature is
23°C, meaning that there is still possible to increase the floor temperature to improve
the thermal sensation of bare feet occupants. On the other hand Tfloor and Top for the
44
FH loop controlled in traditional matter by the thermostatic return valve is the highest
from investigated cases, having the same performance no matter of the location of the
user, i.e. the curve are on top of each other. Furthermore, the Top is in the bathroom
for some periods over 24°C and it triggers opening of the window if the occupants are
at home (plain violet curve). The window is closed again when the Top drops below
22°C or the occupants leave the house. The flow through the FH loop varies to meet
the requirement of 25°C set-point temperature of the water leaving the FH loop and
for some period during the non-heating season it mean drop below the bypass flow
required to keep the inlet to substation on 35°C. Namely, for the customer located
close to the heating plant the flow through the FH drops below 1.77 kg/h for 3% and
for the customer in middle distance below flow of 4.68 L/h for 17% of non-heating
period. The results therefore show that FH controlled by thermostatic return valve
with set-point temperature 25°C cannot be used as a full replacement of traditional
thermostatic bypass to keep the substation ready on 35°C. Top and Tfloor for the CB
concept realised with the thermostatic bypass valve depends on the bypass flow,
defined by position of the customers in DH network and lies between the reference
case without FH heating and the case with traditionally controlled FH.
3.3.2.2 Floor heating with CB
Figure 3.22 (note: comparable control strategies have the same markers) compares
Tfloor in the bathroom of low-energy single-family houses situated at short (square
markers), medium (circle markers) and long distances (triangle markers) from the
heating plant for a two-day period during the non-heating season. It shows CB
solutions realised with a needle valve (case 3) and thermostatic bypass valve (FJVR)
with a 3°C deadband (case 4) together with case of traditional redirection of bypass
flow directly back to DH network ( case 1) and case with FH in the bathroom
operated during non-heating period and controlled by thermostatic return valve (case
2).
26
1,5
Tfloor [°C]
25
1
24,5
24
0,5
23,5
23
22,5
4128
time [h]
0
4176
4152
CB - needle valve 1.77
CB - FJVR + mixing loop 7.1
noCB - FJVR 1.77
occupants at home
CB - FJVR 2.6
CB - FJVR 7.1
CB - FJVR 14.0
noCB - external BYP
noCB - FJVR 4.68
empty
Figure 3.22 – Tfloor during a non-heating period in a bathroom with CB realised with a needle valve or an
FJVR valve
45
occupancy
25,5
Looking on the reference case without FH (black plain curve), the surface floor
temperature in case of installation of CB solution increases by approx. 0.5°C, 1.25°C
and 2°C for the houses located at short, medium and long distances from the heating
plant respectively, and show negligible difference between the bypass flow controlled
by needle valve (solid lines - shades of red) or thermostatic bypass valve (dashed lines
- shades of yellow). It can be said, that the further from the heat plant is the user
situated, the higher bypass flow needed to keep 35°C receives and thus has also
higher temperature in the bathroom. Installation of CB to the system with mixing loop
has practically no influence on the performance compared to the comparable case
without the mixing loop (as can be also seen in Table 3-3).
26
1,5
Tfloor [°C]
25
1
24,5
24
0,5
23,5
occupancy
25,5
23
22,5
4128
0
4176
time [h] 4152
noCB - external BYP
occupants at home
noCB - FJVR 1.77
CB - electr. step valve 1.77
empty
Figure 3.23 - Tfloor during non-heating period in a bathroom with CB realised with a needle valve or
electronic step valve
Figure 3.23 shows also Tfloor for CB located in three different places in the DH
network, but compares solutions realised with a needle valve with the solution
realised by hypothetical electronic step valve, i.e. electronically controlled
thermostatic valve with reduced deadband, resulting in the same nominal flow rate a
needle valve but providing “stop function” for the water with temperature above
desired set-point. It can be seen that reducing the nominal flow by 50% while keeping
the stop function result in additional reduction of Tfloor by 0.1°C, 0.25°C and 0.25°C
in comparison to CB realised with the needle valve (or an thermostatic bypass valve,
as shown in Figure 3.22).
3.3.2.3 Comparison of all investigated cases
Table 3-3 reports the average values for whole non-heating period for all simulated
cases, i.e. from 15 April to 15 November. Comparison of operative, average return
and average floor surface temperature, together with bypassed volume and energy
used in the FH confirms that the performance of the CB realised with the needle valve
(case 3) is very similar to the solution realised with thermostatic bypass valve with
3°C deadband (case 4). However, CB realised by thermostatic bypass solution should
be preferred because of simple adjustment, no need for re-adjustment when the DH
46
supply temperature changes during the year and automatic shutdown of the CB during
the heating period.
Table 3-3 - Comparison of simulated cases for non-heating period 15/4 – 15/11, i.e. 5160 hours, at a price of
650 DKK/MWh.
nominal
bypass
flow
Top
avg.
Tfloor
avg.
Tret
avg.
bypass
ed
volume
average
heat
output
from FH
energy
delivered
by SP
energy
used in
FH
heat
demand
incl. FH
increase
of heat
demand
CB cost
for
customer
bypass
cost for
DH
company
[kg/h]
[°C]
[°C]
[°C]
[m3]
[W]
[kWh]
[kWh]
[kWh]
[%]
[DKK]
[DKK]
1
1.77
23.5
24.4
25.2
24.3
97
1212
500
2945
17%
325
-49
2
2.6
22.4
22.4
35.0
9.7
0
435
0
2352
0%
0
110
3
1.77
23.0
23.0
23.3
9.1
32
430
165
2518
7%
107
-3
4
2.6
22.7
23.0
23.2
9.7
29
435
150
2502
6%
98
12
5
1.77
22.9
22.9
22.9
6.9
22
322
116
2467
5%
75
3
1
4.68
23.5
24.4
25.2
32.6
96
1454
496
2943
17%
322
-199
2
7.1
22.4
22.4
35.0
25.7
0
1089
0
2348
0%
0
97
3
4.68
23.2
23.8
24.4
24.1
72
1069
373
2721
14%
242
-151
4
7.1
23.2
23.7
24.3
25.7
64
1089
333
2681
12%
216
-119
5
4.68
23.1
23.3
23.8
16.8
46
727
236
2586
9%
153
-90
6
7.1
23.2
23.7
24.4
25.7
63
1089
323
2697
12%
210
-119
2
14.0
22.4
22.4
35.0
50.9
0
2126
0
2348
0%
0
89
3
9.36
23.5
24.8
25.8
48.3
127
2110
655
2996
22%
425
-341
4
14.0
23.4
24.6
25.6
50.9
111
2126
571
2919
20%
371
-283
5
9.36
23.3
24.1
24.8
34.0
81
1428
418
2766
15%
272
-213
location 3
location 2
location 1
case
#
The CB concept controlled by the thermostatic bypass valve (case 4) results for the
three locations in the DH network in an increase of average floor surface temperature
from 22.4°C (reference case) to 23.0°C, 23.7°C and 24.6°C, respectively. At the same
time, the weighted average return temperature drops from 35°C for the traditional
bypass operation without the CB concept to 23.2°C, 24.3, 25.6°C, respectively,
meaning additional cooling between 9.4°C to 11.8°C. From the economic perspective,
the customer gained warm floor in the bathroom for the additional cost of between
DKK 98 and 371 per year, i.e. a 6% to 20% increase in the annual heating demand.
We are assuming heat price of 650 DKK/MWh. However, we suggest bill all
customers for the same price, without considering their location in the DH network,
because there should be no difference. Furthermore the price should reflect the fact
that the heat used in the CB would be lost in the DH network anyway if it was not
extracted for in the bathroom floor heating.
The cost of bypass operation for the DH utility for individual solutions is calculated
for 10 m long service pipe as the heat lost in the service pipe (mass flow of bypassed
DH water * thermal capacity of the water * temperature difference at the service pipe,
i.e. 50°C, 40°C or 37.5°C – 35°C) minus payment for the heat from the customer. The
results show that the heat sold for the operation of CB covers in most of the cases
running cost of the bypass in the service pipes, while in the case without CB, the DH
47
utility will pay for the running of the traditional bypass solution roughly 100 DKK
during non-heating season.
Further saving potential, mainly for the location in middle and far distance from the
heating plant can be seen in application of electronic bypass valve (case 5) reducing
the volume of bypassed water roughly by 30% while keeping the inlet to substation in
35°C, but slightly reducing the heat transferred to the bathroom floor.
The CB solution can be substituted by the FH with thermostatically controlled return
valve with set-point 25°C, however without changing the set-point temperature the
35°C at the inlet to substation it is not guaranteed and the traditional bypass valve will
be activated, resulting in traditional redirecting of bypass water back to the DH
network without additional cooling. The floor surface temperature will be for the
customers located in close and middle distance from the heating plant higher than in
case of CB, but as well the bill for heating the bathroom during the non-heating
period.
3.3.2.4 Effect of CB on heat production and distribution
Table 3-3 reported results only from the perspective of individual buildings. The
evaluation of the performance of CB from perspective of DH network was tested on
the example of the low-temperature DH network supplying 40 low-energy houses in
Lystrup, Denmark [15], see Figure 3.17. It should be stressed that we adopted only the
layout of the DH network, while we kept the original house described previously in
the text. The network was modelled in software Termis® [56], as a steady state
simulation. The bypass temperature required in all buildings was set to 35±1.5°C,
providing continuous bypass flow representing the conditions for the CB operated
with a needle valve. However, since the bypassed volume is only 6% higher than for
the CB controlled by thermostatic bypass valve, we assume that the results are valid
for both cases. The heat demand in every bathroom was set to 30W, chosen as an
average value, on the conservative side considering that people are not opening
windows in the bathrooms when the temperature rise above 24°C and thus the heat
transfer to the bathroom floor is reduced.
As a consequence of applying CB in the buildings, the DH water bypassed through
the FH was further cooled by 7.5°C on average (max.: 8.0°C, min.: 4°C). The average
return temperature at heating plant drop from 27.7°C to 23.8°C, as can be seen in
Table 3-4 under case B, representing the simulations with applied CB concept. Case A
represent reference case without the CB, just with continuous bypass.
48
Table 3-4 – Results from the network simulation with the application of only the “continuous bypass” (A) or
“CB concept” in the summer season (B).
case
difference
Heating Power [kW] (plant)
Tsupply [°C] (from the plant)
A
B
3.8
4.5
18%
55
55
-
27.7
23.8
-3.9
-
1.2
-
Total Heat Loss [kW]
3.8
3.3
-13%
Heat Loss Supply [kW]
2.25
2.3
2%
Heat Loss Return [kW]
1.55
1
-35%
Heat loss/production [%]
100
72.4
28%
Treturn [°C] (to the plant)
Heating Load [kW]
The table furthermore show that the heat loss from the return pipes was reduced by
35%, thanks to the reduced return temperature. However since the DH network is
built from the twin pipes and supply and return pipe are in the same casing and affects
each other, there is a slight increase of the heat loss from service pipe. The final
impact of the CB concept on the DH network is 13% reduction of heat loss.
Nevertheless the lower return temperature coming to the heating plant requires
additional energy input from the heat source, in our case 0.7 kW, which at the same
time compensated by heat additionally sold 1.2 kW for heating of CB. However the
additionally needed 0.7 kW represents only 60% of the total heat needed in CB,
meaning that the DH utility should bill the customers only for 60% and remaining
40% should be free. Applying this discount on the case of CB realised with the
thermostatic bypass valve, the price for the individual customers will be between 60
and 220 DKK, depending on their location in the DH network, but as it was discussed
before the price should be recalculated to be same for all customers.
Furthermore if the DH utility s from the reduced return temperature to the heating
plant also in terms of energy efficiency (condensation boiler, combined heat and
power) or the lower return temperature doesn’t represent additional cost (geothermal
heat plants) the price for the heat used in CB should be additionally reduced.
3.3.3 Conclusions
•
Heat loss caused during the non-heating period by using the traditional
external bypass is reduced by application of “comfort bathroom” solution,
redirecting the bypass flow to the bathroom floor heating where is additionally
cooled while heating the bathroom floor.
•
The bypass flow rate varies for different locations in the DH network. The
longer the distance from the heating plant, the lower the temperature of DH
water at the beginning of the service pipe and the higher the bypass flow
49
needed to keep 35°C at the inlet to substation, resulting in more heat for the
floor heating in the bathroom.
•
By application of comfort bathroom concept, the bathroom floor surface
temperature in the reference house increased during the non-heating season
between 0.6 and 2.2°C on average, while the bypass water was cooled from
35°C in case of traditional bypass solution with thermostatic valve to between
23.2°C and 25.6°C, depending on the location of the customer in the DH
network.
•
Cooled bypass water returning to the heating plant reduces heat losses from
the DH network by 13%, covering 40% of the heat transferred additionally to
the bathroom floor heating. Therefore the customers should pay only
remaining 60% of the heat used in the comfort bathroom during the nonheating season. Applied on the reference case of low-temperature DH network
with 40 low-energy houses it represents annual cost between 60-220 DKK per
customer. However it is suggested to bill all customers with the same,
averaged price disregarding their location.
•
In case the DH heating sources making profit from reduced DH return
temperature e.g. by improved condensation of flue gases, increasing power
generation in combined heat and power plant or having no additional cost with
reduced DH return temperature (geothermal heat plant), this improvement in
should be also regarded in the price for operation of comfort bathroom.
•
Modelling of bathroom floor heating with pulse and continuous flow show
that the thermal mass of the bathroom floor reducing for the investigated cases
differences in type of flow and therefore the heat transferred to the bathroom
floor depends mainly on the flow rate of the bypass water.
•
Continuous bypass flow provided with the needle valve instead of traditional
thermostatic bypass valve with deadband reduces for case of constant DH
supply temperature bypassed volume by 30%. However considering changes
of DH supply temperature caused by tapping of DHW water, in fact occurring
many times per day, results negligible difference in bypassed volumes caused
by the fact that thermostatic bypass valve closes the flow when the flow
temperature is above the set-point temperature.
•
For implementation of comfort bathroom concept is therefore suggested use
traditional thermostatic valve because of simple settings requiring only setpoint temperature while the solution with needle valve requires calculation of
required flow, changing with the location of the customer in DH network and
changes with changing of DH supply and soil temperatures.
50
•
Considering influence of DHW tapping and changes in temperature of the
bypassed DH water related to the temperature changes in the DH network the
continuous bypass realised by the needle valve is not recommended. The
optimal solution could be electronically controlled thermostatic bypass with
reduced dead band, combining advantage of lower bypass flow while still
keeping the thermostatic function.
•
CB concept realised in the typical medium temperature DH network built from
the single pipes without state-of-the art insulation properties will result
compared to the low-temperature DH network in increased bypass flow
needed to keep inlet to the substation at 35°C, but at the same time in
possibility to save more heat from the return pipes due to the worse insulation
properties of the DH network. For the customers it mean higher bypass flow
and thus more heat available in the bathroom FH and higher comfort for
discounted price.
51
4 Space Heating Systems Supplied by LTDH
4 PART II – SPACE HEATING
SYSTEMS SUPPLIED BY LOWTEMPERATURE DH
Part II investigates the feasibility of supplying space heating systems (SH) using lowtemperature DH, and is divided into two halves, the first focusing on existing
buildings and the second on new low-energy buildings. More detail on research
related to existing buildings can be found in ISI paper [57]. The research related to
low-energy buildings is reported in conference paper [58].
4.1 Existing Buildings
4.1.1 Specific background
Most of the Danish building stock consists of buildings built around the 1970s, as a
result of a peak in population growth [59]. In what follows, these buildings are called
“existing buildings”, meant in the sense of a counter-pole to low-energy buildings.
Compared to low-energy building, e.g. class 2010 [53] with an energy framework of
63 kWh/(m2.a), existing building from the 1970s have considerably greater energy
demand, resulting in a typical energy use of about 200 kWh/(m2.a). The energy
demand of buildings built after 1977 drops significantly as a consequence of the
building regulations (BR1977) demanding a lower U-value for construction elements
to reflect the energy crisis in the 1970s [60]. However, existing buildings will
continue to make up a large share of the building stock for many years to come and it
is estimated that their share in Denmark in 2030 will be about 85-90% [3]. So the
question arises as to whether such buildings can cope with low-temperature DH with
supply temperatures of 55-50°C and, if not, what renovation measures need to be
carried out on the building envelope and the SH and DHW systems, and how should
the DH network be operated. These buildings are usually equipped with SH and DHW
systems designed for supply temperatures of around 70°C or higher, so a reduction of
DH supply temperature would be expected to cause discomfort for the occupants. So
one possible solution is to operate the DH network with a supply temperature of 50°C
for most of the year and increase the DH supply temperature only during cold periods.
However, once the DH supply temperature drops below 60°C, the DHW substation
needs to be replaced with a low-temperature version (as discussed in chapter 3.1.2).
Reduction of DH supply temperature
From the perspective of occupants, the DH supply temperature can be reduced as long
as it does not violate their thermal comfort. This needs to take account of the fact that
occupants tend to maintain an indoor temperature of 22°C rather than 20°C [7] and
should focus on the operative temperature rather than the air temperatures sometimes
experienced. This is important, especially in older buildings where the low
53
temperatures of inner-surfaces of the construction have a big influence on the thermal
comfort of the occupants. From the perspective of DH, the maximum hydraulic
capacity of the DH network and the availability of the heat sources that can provide
peaked DH supply temperature during cold periods need to be considered.
However, the maximum supply temperature needed in the SH systems can be further
reduced by improving the building envelope or by replacing the original SH system
with a low-temperature system extracting more heat by better cooling of DH heating
water. From the long-term perspective, the preferred solution is to reduce the heat
demand by improving the building envelope, but due to the investment cost not every
house owner is willing to do this. Replacing the SH system is a cheaper and faster
solution, but it does not bring any energy savings; it just allows existing buildings to
be supplied by DH with reduced supply temperatures. Refurbishment measures
carried out on existing houses vary from no measures (original state) to extensive
renovation, including replacing the windows and wall and roof insulation. Replacing
the windows is the most typical refurbishment, because the window lifetime of 30
years has passed and a relatively small investment brings considerable heat savings.
However the renovation of existing buildings should be seen from the perspective of
the integration of renewable sources of heat which needs to be built before 2035
because it is cheaper to refurbish the existing buildings as fast as possible to reduce
their peak capacity and thus also the investment costs for low-temperature DH.
Subsidies for the building refurbishment could be therefore from the long-time
perspective advantageous [61].
4.1.1 Methods
The feasibility of integrating existing buildings to low-temperature DH with a design
supply temperature of 50°C was modelled in the advanced level of the IDA-ICE
program, version 4.22. The approach applied was to lower the original supply
temperature curve (i.e. dependency of the temperature supplied to the space heating
system on the outdoor temperature) of the space heating system until the operative
temperature indoors drops below the desired value of either 22°C or 20°C. We chose
a 157m2 single-family house built in 1973 as a typical representative of the Danish
building stock. The house was part of a Realea renovation project to investigate the
reduction in energy demand for refurbished houses from the 1970s and the project
reported enough information to develop and verify a model of the house [12], [62].
The house was modelled as a multi-zone model with 12 zones, each representing one
room. The difference between the measured and modelled heat demand for the
reference case of the non-renovated house was only 2.5%.
First we dimensioned the SH system with radiators for temperature levels of 70/40/20
(supply temperature, return temperature, air temperature) based on DS 418 [63] to
cope with a constant outdoor temperature of -12°C without internal or external heat
gains. We chose the air temperature as design temperature with a view to evaluating
the influence of the system when later operated with operative temperature. The
54
nominal heat output of real radiators [64] was chosen as close as possible to the
dimensioned values. The more over-dimensioned the radiators are, the more the
supply temperature can be reduced, which means the model would not reflect the
design conditions.
Then we included the heat gains expected from occupants and equipment (4.2 W/m2 –
constantly) [58] and ran the model with the Danish design reference year weather file.
By step-by-step lowering of the supply temperature for various outdoor temperatures,
we defined a supply temperature curve for the SH system. To maintain the same
hydraulic conditions in the DH network we limited the maximum flow rate from the
DH network to the value defined originally for the design conditions of radiators
70/40/20.
350
80
[-10;71,5]
flow [L/hr]
300
70
65
250
60
Tsupply [°C]
75
[-20;78]
55
[5.5;50]
200
50
-25
-20
-15
-10
-5
0
5
10
15
Toutdoor [°C]
DH flow - 2 points supply curve
DH flow limit 264 L/hr
Tsupp - 3 points supply curve
DH flow - 3 points supply curve
Tsupp - 2 points supply curve
Figure 4.1 - Construction of weather-compensated supply temperature curve for non-renovated house, setpoint temperature 22 °C.
Figure 4.1 shows flow of heating water needed in the SH system for linear and nonlinear supply temperature curve. It can be seen that considering the supply
temperature curve as linear results in non-uniform use of DH capacity (blue
diamonds) and since the flow is many times above the DH flow limit (based on the
design conditions 264 L/h), it will be needed to further increase the supply
temperatures to reduce the maximal flow below the limit. However, defining the
supply temperature curve with at least one additional point results in equalized use of
flow capacity of the DH network and thus reducing the supply temperature to the
minimal possible values. The additional points on the supply temperature curve were
found by continuous adjustment of the supply temperature curve for various outdoor
temperatures until the actual flow in the SH system approached close to the hydraulic
limit of the DH network.
Non-linearity of the supply temperature curve is caused by the thermal capacity of the
building. Even the outdoor temperature rises and thus gives signal to reduce the
55
supply temperature to the SH system, the building still keeps the “cold” accumulated
from the previous period and it takes some time to heat up this mass to the new
thermal condition. An alternative solution to define the supply temperature curve by
more than two points is therefore “delay” in reduction of heating supply temperature
for the periods when the outdoor temperature increases. We chose time delay of 6
hours and this condition is in further text called ToutSHIFT.
We also investigated case with supply temperature limited to 70°C, resulting in
maximal flow rate increased from designed 264 L/h to 432 L/h. This condition is
denoted “HIGHFLOW” and represent condition when the DH network has enough
reserve in capacity to increase the flow. In reality this condition is very relevant
because the DH networks are usually built with capacity reserve up to 30% [65].
Possibility to increase the maximal flow in the SH system depends on the design
conditions for the system, but for the case of investigated house it doesn’t represent
problem [57].
Using the same approach, the supply temperature curve was also defined for the house
with the original windows replaced around the year 2000 with standard ones and for
the house with low-energy windows and additionally insulated ceiling. Table 4-1
reports the complete list of simulated cases.
Moreover, for all three building states, we investigated replacing the original radiators
(designed for conditions 70/40/20) with low-temperature radiators (designed with
condition 50/25/20), with the same projected area, but deeper (increased number of
convection plates). Finally, we also investigated influence of milder outdoor
temperatures then defined in Danish design reference year but considering the supply
temperature curve defined for Danish design reference year. The outdoor temperature
used is the outdoor temperature measured in 2009 during Realea project [12].
Figure 4.2 shows the supply temperature (Tsupply) curves needed for the SH system to
maintain an operative temperature (Top) of 20°C and 22°C for the typical singlefamily house from the 1970s according to the numerical simulations. The curves
represent results for the building in three different stages of envelope refurbishment
and include the option of the installation of low-temperature radiators (LT). The
maximum flow in the DH network and the SH system is exceeded only in the case of
“HIGHFLOW”.
56
Top=20°C
↓
Top=22°C
↓
80
78,0
75
73,0
Tsupply [°C]
70
70,0
67,3
67,0
65
62,0
60
59,0
57,0
55
53,1
50
50,0
-30
-25
-20
-15
-10
-5
0
5
10
Toutdoor [°C]
non-renovated 20°C
new windows 20°C
extensive renovation 20°C
non-renovated 22°C
new windows 22°C
non-renovated 22°C LT radiators
new windows 22°C LT
extensive renovation 22°C LT
non-renovated 22°C HIGHFLOW
non-renovated 22°C Tout SHIFT
Figure 4.2 – Supply temperature curves for all the cases investigated. LT – low temperature radiators,
HIGHFLOW – hydraulic limit of SH system and DH network increased to 400 L/h, ToutSHIFT – 6 hours
time delay when the Tout increases
Figure 4.2 shows that reducing the desired set-point of operative temperature Top from
22°C to 20°C reduces the maximum supply temperature needed by about 5°C for nonrenovated and house with new windows and by 4°C for extensively renovated house.
Installation of low-temperature radiators with the same projection area, just with more
heat transfer plates (numbers in dashed rectangles), makes possible to keep 22°C Top
while compared to 20°C further reduces the maximum supply temperature needed by
6°C for the non-renovated house, by 3°C for the house with new-windows, and by
3°C, i.e. down to 50°C for the extensively renovated house.
Increase of flow limit to 432 L/h while keeping the original radiators in case of nonrenovated house means reduction of maximal supply temperature from 78°C to 70°C
and reaching the value of 50°C supply temperature already for outdoor temperature
3°C instead of 5°C.
Figure 4.3 reports the duration of the period (in percentage of hours during the year)
when the supply temperature needed to be increased over 50°C for all the cases
investigated. The house with new windows can be supplied with low-temperature DH
at 50°C and maintain an operative temperature of 22°C for approx. 83.5% (see Figure
4.3; 100 – 16.5%) of the year and needs a maximum supply temperature of 67°C (see
Figure 4.2).
57
50,0
45,0
hours above [%]
40,0
35,0
30,0
25,0
20,0
15,0
10,0
5,0
0,0
50
55
60
65
70
non-renovated 20°C
21,4
8,1
2,9
1,3
0,2
new windows 20°C
6,8
1,8
0,2
0,0
0,0
0,4
0,0
0,0
0,0
0,0
non-renovated 22°C
40,8
21,5
7,7
2,7
1,2
new windows 22°C
16,5
4,8
1,6
0,1
0,0
3,4
0,2
0,0
0,0
0,0
non-renovated 22°C LT radiators
7,2
2,3
0,9
0,2
0,0
new windows 22°C LT
1,8
0,3
0,0
0,0
0,0
extensive renovation 22°C LT
0,0
0,0
0,0
0,0
0,0
non-renovated 22°C HIGHFLOW
28,8
8,0
2,4
0,5
0,0
non-renovated 22°C Tout SHIFT
45,6
22,9
7,0
2,3
0,8
non-renovated 22 °C ODUM
36,7
16,9
2,5
0,2
0,0
Tsupply [°C]
Figure 4.3 – Percentage of hours during a year with supply temperature higher than 50°C; case nonrenovated ODUM represents conditions with real weather data input
The increase in the DH supply temperature above 60°C is needed only for 1.6% of the
time (140 hours). This result is based on an operative temperature of 22°C as a
realistic temperature desired by customers. The operative temperature of 20°C, which
is usually used for energy calculations, means the period with DH supply temperature
increased above 60°C drops to 18 hours (0.2%) and the maximum supply temperature
drops to 62°C. However, considering 22°C as a realistic operative temperature desired
by customers is crucial for a proper evaluation of the feasibility of supplying existing
buildings with low-temperature DH. Underestimation of the desired operative
temperature will result in underestimation of the maximum supply temperature
needed, and therefore in complaints from customers. With the additional
improvements on the building envelope, such as low-energy windows and ceiling
insulation (i.e. extensive renovation) and the installation of low-temperature radiators,
DH with a supply temperature of 50°C will ensure 22°C operative temperature during
the whole heating season.
Keeping the supply temperature curve linear but apply six hours delay for the
calculation of new supply temperature when the outdoor temperature increases lead in
58
reduction of maximal water flow in SH system from original 432 L/h (flow in SH
system for Top set-point 22°C) to 280 L/h, which is fairly comparable with the design
limit of 264 L/h, but the period with supply water temperature of 50°C-60°C is
increased by 12% (from 41% of the year to 46%).
The limitation of supply temperature to 70°C and allowance of maximal flow 432 L/h
resulted in decrease of period with supply temperature over 50°C by 30% (from 41%
of the year to 29%). Applying the real weather data input resulted in reduction of
hours with supply temperature over 50°C by 10% (from 41% to 37% of the year).
Table 4-1 compares the annual heating demand, the maximum heat power (Pmax)
needed for SH system (equal to the heating power delivered by DH system), the
maximum supply temperature needed, and the average return temperature (TRW)
from the SH system for all the investigated cases. It can be seen that the light
(replacement of windows with standard ones) and extensive (low-energy windows
and ceiling insulation) renovations reduce in comparison to the non-renovated
building the maximum heat power needed for the SH system by about 21% and 45%
respectively while the annual heating demand by 25% and 50% respectively. The
percentage reduction of maximal heat power and annual heating demand are not the
same and therefore the reduction in annual heating demand can be used only as a
rough estimation for the reduction in peak heat power. Both values are usually needed
in relation to the connection of refurbished buildings to the DH network.
59
Table 4-1 - Comparison of heating demand, peak heat power (Pmax) and weighted average return
temperature (TRW) for all the cases investigated.
Toperative
internal heat
gains
Tsupmax
[°C]
[W/m2]
[°C]
RADa
Pmax
TRW
heating
demand
Pmax
reduction
heating
demand
reduction
[kW]
[°C]
[MWh/a]
[%]
[%]
non-renovated house - basic
20b
0
70.0
O
9.2
37.6
x
-
-
20
20
0
4.18
70.0
73.0
O
O
9.4
9.9
40.2
30.1
x
20.0
-
-
-
-
22
4.18
78.0
O
10.5
32.9
24.6
-6%
-23%
22
4.18
67.3
LT
10.5
27.6
24.6
-6%
-23%
non-renovated house - advanced
22c
4.18
70.0
O
10.5
35
24.5
0%
0%
d
4.18
78.0
O
10.5
33.1
24.6
0%
0%
e
4.18
78.0
O
7.8
32.5
21.7
25%
12%
22
22
light renovation - new windows
20
20
0
4.18
70.0
62.0
O
O
7.7
7.8
33.0
27.1
x
14.9
21%
26%
22
4.18
67.0
O
8.3
30.4
18.4
21%
25%
22
4.18
59.0
LT
8.3
25.7
18.4
21%
25%
extensive renovation
20
20
0
4.18
70.0
53.1
O
O
5.8
5.47
28.2
24.7
x
9.9
45%
50%
22
4.18
57.0
O
5.80
28.1
12.4
45%
49%
22
4.18
50.0
LT
5.82
24.1
12.4
44%
50%
a
: O = original radiators, LT = low-temperature radiators
b
: dimensioned on the basis of air temperature
c
: maximum flow limit increased to 432 L/h
d
: time delay in DH supply temperature control
e
: simulated with “measured weather data input”
Applying the weather file measured in the real location of the house in 2009 for the
non-renovated house reduced the maximum heat power needed for SH by 25% and
the annual heating demand by 12% in comparison applying the DRY weather file.
The consequences of using air temperature instead of operative temperature when
designing a SH system are shown to be 0.2kW at peak heat output, which is seen as
marginal, both for the SH and the DH system. However, using an operative
temperature of 20°C instead of 22°C during the design phase leads to underestimation
of the DH connection heat power for SH and would lead to people feeling thermal
discomfort and asking the DH utility to increase the DH supply temperature.
60
With regard to the DHW system, once the DH supply temperature drops below 60°C,
it will always be necessary for the original DH substation for DHW heating to be
replaced with a specially designed low-temperature DH substation – depending on the
original design, either one using the instantaneous principle of DHW heating or one
with a storage tank for DH water (discussed in section 3.1.5). The existing DHW
pipes will also need to be replaced with new pipes preferably with dimension DN10,
to fit the requirement that the overall volume of DHW pipes is below 3L.
4.1.2 Conclusions
•
Single-family house built in 1970s, representing the typical example of Danish
building stock, can be heated by DH to indoor temperature of 22°C during
whole year without compromising thermal comfort or exceeding the design
flow rate in the DH network and without any renovation measure if the DH
supply temperature is raised above 60°C for roughly 8% of year (700 hours).
This result shows that even under these unfavourable conditions it is possible
to decrease the DH supply temperature for considerable periods during the
year.
•
In reality, most houses from the 1970s have already replaced their original
windows, which mean that the maximum value and the duration of increased
DH supply temperature can be further reduced. In our example, it means a
reduction from 8% to only 2% of hours in the year when the temperature is
above 60°C.
•
By installing low-temperature radiators (with the same projected area as the
original ones), the maximum supply temperature can be reduced further to
59°C so that there is no period with a DH supply temperature over 60°C. The
same supply temperature curve is also valid for the extensively renovated
house (new low-energy windows and attic insulation) with the original SH
system. If the extensively renovated house also replaces its space heating
system with low-temperature radiators, it can then be supplied all year around
with a DH supply temperature of 50°C.
•
The duration of periods with a DH supply temperature above 50°C is reported
for an operative temperature of 22°C to model a realistic set-point temperature
preferred by occupants. The durations for an operative temperature of 20°C
will be shorter.
•
Reduction of the DH supply temperature to below 60°C does require changing
DHW heat exchangers to special low-temperature heat exchangers and
traditional DHW storage tanks to low-temperature DH storage tanks.
Therefore DH utilities should start require replacement of existing DH
substations with low-temperature DH substations already today, because this
61
will ensure that in 20 years (the typical lifetime of a DH substation) all newly
installed DH substations will be ready for low-temperature DH.
•
The DH supply temperature curve needs to be defined by more than two points
ensuring optimal use of flow capacity of the DH network and thus minimal
DH supply temperature. Operation of DH network on lower than maximal
flow capacity will result in higher heat losses and poor cost-effectiveness. The
alternative solution to non-linear supply temperature curve is linear supply
temperature curve with time delay in increase of supply temperature when the
outdoor temperature increases.
•
The supply temperature curve can be further shifted to lower temperatures if
the maximum guaranteed DH flow rate is increased with additional head
pressure from pumps in the DH network. This is documented in the example
of the non-renovated house where the maximum supply temperature decreased
from 78°C to 70°C while the annual weighted average return temperature
increased only by 3°C. This solution will therefore make it easier to integrate
renewable sources of energy, but the impact on DH networks needs further
investigation.
•
The consequences of using air temperature instead of operative temperature
when designing a SH system were shown to be marginal, both for the SH and
the DH system. In reality, the radiators will tend to be over-dimensioned
because the designers want to be sure that the system provides enough heat
and this will make it possible to use slightly lower supply temperatures. Overdimensioning of the DH network by 20-30% is also expected and this will
contribute to better integration of existing buildings into low-temperature DH
networks. However, we cannot rely on the over dimensioning.
•
Percentage reduction in the heating demand is not the same as the reduction in
peak heat output. Light renovation results in a 25% reduction in heating
demand but only to 20% reduction in peak heat output. Similar is valid also for
extensive renovation, with 50% and 45% reduction of heating demand and
peak heat output respectively.
•
The heating demand of existing buildings is expected to decrease linearly to
50% of its present value by 2050. This reduction in heating demand, however,
will cause no difficulties, if the present DH concept is changed to lowtemperature DH. The low-temperature DH concept still requires further
optimisation, and more work is needed on DH network design and operation to
take into account the integration of renewable sources of energy, but the lowtemperature DH concept can be introduced already today because existing
buildings do not represent such big problems as might have been expected.
62
4.2 Low-Energy Buildings
The content of this chapter is based on the peer-reviewed conference paper “Optimal
Space Heating System for Low-Energy Single-Family House Supplied by LowTemperature District Heating” presented at the PassivHus Norden 2013 conference.
However, it was found that the model for opening of the windows was set incorrectly,
resulting in no window opening and thus overheating in the building. As result of this
mistake, the set-point temperature activating the bypassing of the heat recovery unit in
the ventilation system was reduced to 16°C to prevent overheating of the building.
Overheating was reduced but the heat demand increased by 25% compared to case
with the right input parameters. The article itself is not part of the thesis, but the
methodology used was correct and the thesis reports the corrected results.
4.2.1 Specific background
As shown in chapter 2.3, low-temperature DH is cost-efficient for low-energy houses
thanks to the reduced heat losses from DH network. For this purpose the heat loss
from DH network can be defined as difference between the heat sent to the DH
network from the DH heating plant and the heat consumed by the customers, i.e. their
heat demand. If is the heat demand of the buildings reduced, as it is in case of lowenergy buildings, the share of the heat losses from DH network is increased and thus
increases the price of the heat for the customers and reduces cost-efficiency of the DH
network. In addition to that, the cost-efficiency of DH network is related also to the
connection heat power, i.e. the maximal heat output required by the customer,
defining dimensions of the DH network and thus beside the heat loses from the DH
network also the investment cost for the pipes and size of the heat sources.
Estimated heat demand and connection heat power depends on set of input
parameters, being mainly represented by:
•
•
•
internal heat gains - from the occupants and equipment
desired indoor temperature
space heating system and principle of DHW heating – only for connection heat
power
Expected heat demand of the buildings
Heating demand is in general influenced by
outdoor and desired indoor temperature, and
internal heat gains and indoor temperature are
on the heating demand of the buildings and
considering the low-energy buildings.
the construction of the building, the
internal and external heat gains. The
known to have considerable influence
this importance is even higher when
In Denmark all new buildings are divided into the energy classes based on the
expected annual energy demand calculated with the national tool Be10 [66]. The
annual energy demand for the residential buildings covers the energy needed for
heating, cooling, running of HVAC systems (fans, pumps, etc.) and heating of DHW.
63
The values suggested for calculation of the energy class are internal heat gains 5
W/m2, desired operative temperature of 20°C, and energy use for DHW of 13.1
kWh/m2.a (based on 250L/a.m2 and a temperature lift from 10°C to 55°C). These
values, however, are meant to be values for comparing the energy performance of
different buildings and not treated as values reflecting the realistic heating demand of
the building. Nevertheless, many engineers take these values as an input for the
calculation of the expected energy use of buildings.
So it is not surprising that the real energy demand is higher than the one originally
calculated. The reason is simply that the people use the house in different way than it
was assumed for the energy calculation, or to be more precise, the energy calculation
used input values different from the realistic ones. The buildings are built for the
occupants and therefor the focus should be put on their needs. Report from Lystrup
project [7] documented that the occupants tend to maintain an operative temperature
of 22°C instead of 20°C, according to [67] the suggested value for DHW use is 20
kWh/(m2.a)1 instead of 13.1 kWh/m2, and the improved energy efficiency of currently
used equipment reduces the internal heat gains from 5 W/m2 to 4 W/m2 [68].
However, the problem is not just the disillusion of building owners on receiving
higher energy bills than promised; underestimated heating demand negatively affect
cost-efficiency study on the suitability of using the DH in investigated area.
Connection heat power
Connection heat power of the house is given by contribution of maximal heat power
needed for space heating and DHW heating, being with consideration of individual
simultaneity factors the base for dimensioning of the DH network [8]. The following
text focuses only the connection heat power for the space heating, without considering
addition from DHW preparation.
The needed heat output for SH system is in Denmark based on the dimensioned heat
loss of the building, calculated in accordance with standard DS 418 [63], for an
outdoor temperature of -12°C, an indoor operative temperature of 20°C, and
excluding internal and external heat gains. This simple approach makes the
calculation very simple but since the approach doesn’t reflect internal heat gains,
changes in outdoor temperature and building mass it is expected to result in over
dimension of the space heating system and thus increasing connection heat power
needed for connection of the building.
Wrong input values can result in incorrect results of cost-efficiency study and thus
stop DH project which will be in reality economically viable and thus their proper
estimation is very important when analysing economic feasibility of any DH network.
We therefore investigated how much the annual heating demand in the low-energy
house changes when considering more realistic input parameters for internal heat
1
Based on expected DHW demand 800 kWh/a.person, 4 people in 157m2 house
64
gains and desired indoor temperature and how much of the connection heat power of
the space heating system based on the traditional dimensioning approach is used in
reality.
4.2.2 Methods
The influence of internal heat gains and desired indoor operative temperature on the
maximum heat output needed from the SH system and the annual heating demand was
investigated in IDA-ICE software [55] on example of single-family house with 159m2
[29] build in accordance with low-energy class 2015 [53]. The house was built as
multi-zone model (12 rooms = 12 zones) and the ground plan is shown in Figure 4.4.
We chose to implement space heating system with radiators and dimensioned them
for temperature levels 55/25/20 (supply, return, operative temperature) for the
conditions in accordance with the standard DS 418 [63]. This case is in the text called
“design case”, denoted later in the text as “design”.
Figure 4.4 – Ground plan of 159m2 single-family house built in IDA-ICE
The ventilation system was designed on the basis of BR10 requirements [53],
resulting in a total air flow 60L/s for the supply and 60L/s for the exhaust. The
performance of the heat recovery unit in the ventilation system was based on the long
experience of a building company [69] set to 76%, meeting the requirement of
minimal heat recovery efficiency of 75% defined in BR10 [53]. The heat recovery
unit starts to partially bypass the air (frost protection) when the temperature of the
exhaust air after the heat recovery drops below 1°C. The temperature of the air
supplied by the ventilation system was 4°C below the desired temperature set-point in
the room, i.e. 16°C and 18°C for an indoor temperature of 20°C and 22°C,
respectively to prevent the risk of cold draught for the occupants. For periods when
the supply temperature of the air after the heat recovery dropped below 16°C or 18°C
a heating coil in the ventilation system was activated. The heating coil was
dimensioned to lift the air temperature from -15°C to 16°C, i.e. without taking the
heat recovery unit into account.
To investigate the influence of various modelling of internal heat gains and increase in
desired indoor set-point temperature we performed annual simulation with Danish
Design Reference Year (DRY) weather file and defined four cases, which are all
65
listed in Table 4-2. The internal heat gains were first modelled as a constant value of 5
W/m2, i.e. in accordance with the values suggested in Be10; represented by case “A”.
Then we defined our own schedule of internal heat gains, reflecting reduced heat
output of home appliances, resulting in average constant value of 4.18 W/m2,
represented by case “B”. The next modification was to investigate influence of
modelling the internal heat gains not as averaged continuous value, but as real
intermittent activities, changing over the time. Therefore we make case “C” giving on
weekly average the same value of internal heat gains as case B, but changing
intermittently due to the hourly schedule. The schedules for the activities are shown in
Appendix and in [58]. The last case “D”, investigates change in desired indoor
temperature from 20°C to 22°C.
Then we compared the maximum heat output and annual return temperature from the
SH system, heating demand and length of space heating period.
4.2.1.1 Connection heat power
Table 4-2 show influence of various modelling of internal heat gains and desired
indoor temperature on connection heat power needed from the DH system for the SH
system for all investigated cases. For easier orientation, colours express magnitude of
the value or the difference compared to the design case, lowest (green) and highest
(red), in each column.
It can be seen that the SH system based on traditional dimensioning due to DS 418
(design case), needs 5.2 kW heat connection power (including heating coil for air).
The radiators were chosen very close to the required dimensioned heat output, which
can be seen from the return temperature of 25°C.
Table 4-2 – Connection heat power for space heating system (radiators, heating coil and total) and annual
return temperature from the radiators for all simulated cases
case
Internal Heat Gains
Connection Heat Power for SH
radiators
[W/m2]
type
design
0
-
A
5
B
heating coil
Total
Top
Treturn
annual
from
radiators
[°C]
max. heat
output [kW]
[%]
max. heat output
[kW]
[%]
max. heat
output [kW]
[%]
20
2.9
0%
2.2
0%
5.2
0%
25
constant
20
2.2
-26%
1.2
-44%
3.4
-33%
20.5
4.18
constant
20
2.3
-21%
1.2
-44%
3.6
-31%
20.6
C
4.18
scheduled
20
2.8
-5%
1.3
-43%
4.0
-22%
21.2
D
4.18
scheduled
22
2.9
-1%
1.3
-43%
4.2
-19%
23.7
Running the simulation for whole year with DRY weather file and continuous internal
heat gains 5 W/m2 representing the values from Be10 (case “A”), the maximal needed
heat output from the heating system drops by 33% to 3.4 kW. The radiators have
reserve in the heat output of 26% and the heating coil 44%. The over-dimensioning is
66
result of the fact that the radiators were designed with constant outdoor temperature of
-12°C and the heating coil for air was dimensioned for outdoor temperature -15°C
without consideration of heat recovery and both excluding internal heat gains. The
44% over-dimension of the air heating coil is the same for all investigated cases.
Reducing the internal heat gains from 5 W/m2 (case A) to 4.18 W/m2 (case B) results
in only 5% increase of the maximal heat output for the radiators, while modelling the
internal heat gains as intermittent (case C) results in roughly 16 and 21% increase of
the heat output needed for the radiators compared to the cases modelled with internal
heat gains as constant values of 5 W/m2 and 4.18 W/m2. The increase of desired
indoor temperature from 20°C to 22°C has in comparison with the case C almost
negligible importance (1%).
Modelling the internal heat gains with reduced value and intermittent profile increases
the annual return temperature from the radiators maximally by 0.7°C, meaning no
practical influence. Setting the desired indoor temperature from 20°C to 22°C
increases the annual return temperature in comparison to case A by 3.2°C, but the
value is still below the design value of 25°C. Interestingly, the heat output from the
radiator system designed on the basis of dimensioning heat loss for DS 418 with an
indoor temperature of 20°C has roughly the same value as the heat output needed in
case “D” for 22°C and reduced internal heat gains, meaning that even the indoor
temperature is increased and the internal heat gains reduced the space heating system
designed in accordance with DS 418 is still able to deliver requested comfort.
Comparing the heat connection power to the DH calculated for overall SH system
based on the standard dimensioning approach with the results of more realistic cases
“C” and “D”, the original value 5.2 kW decreased by 1.2 and 1.0 kW, which is a
decrease of approx. 20%. However the 20% reduction is caused only by overdimension of the air heating coil in the ventilation system. The fact that in the
traditional DH networks the connection power for the SH system is usually increased
by another 20-30% results in total 50-60% over-dimensioning of the SH connection
power than really needed. On the one hand, over-dimensioning ensures free capacity
to provide customers with needed heat and makes possible connect more customers,
but on the other hand it results in unnecessarily large DH pipes with higher heat loss,
which is contrary to the philosophy of the low-temperature DH concept. Overdimensioning the connection heat power leads to need of higher heat capacity of the
heating plants and thus further increasing the investment.
4.2.1.2 Annual heating demand
Contrary to the reduction of connection heat power (or maximal heat output of the
space heating system), lower internal heat gains and higher desired indoor
temperature increases the annual heating demand and length of the heating period (see
Table 4-3).
67
Table 4-3 – Heating demand, length of heating period and annual return temperature from space heating
for all simulated cases
case
Internal Heat Gains
01
2
[W/m ]
Type
0
-
Heating Demand
Top
radiators
[kWh/a]
20
-
heating
coil
[kWh/a]
total
[kWh/a]
increase
[%]
heating
period
[month]
-
-
A
5
constant
20
2810
138
2948
0%
5.9
B
4.18
constant
20
3386
139
3525
20%
6.2
C
4.18
scheduled
20
3519
138
3657
24%
6.3
D
4.18
scheduled
22
4461
186
4647
58%
7.3
Case
Reducing the constant internal heat gains from 5 W/m2 to 4.18 W/m2 results in
considerable increase of the annual heating demand by 20% and extension of the
heating period by 0.3 month, i.e. around 8 days. Modelling the internal heat gains
intermittently based on the detailed schedule, results in an additional 4% increase in
the heating demand and 5 days extension of the heating period, meaning some but not
really important increase. But increasing the desired indoor temperature from 20°C to
22°C results in an additional heating demand of 27%, which is in accordance with the
results of Tommerup [68] and Olsen [70]. Comparing this result with the reference
case based on Be10 values, the heating demand increased by 58% and heating season
by 42 days (1.4 months). Table 4-4 – influence of DHW on total heating demand
A
B
C
D
Annual heating demand
DHW
SH & DHW
[kWh/(m2.a)]
[kWh/a]
[kWh/a]
[%]
13.1
20.1
20.1
20.1
2083
3200
3200
3200
5031
6725
6857
7847
0%
34%
36%
56%
Adding also more realistic demand for DHW heating (see Table 4-4) than the values
defined in Be10 calculations will not additionally change the percentage increase of
annual heating demand for case “D”, but it will further increase the absolute amount
of heat sold to the customer, which is a considerable difference from the perspective
of both customers and the DH company which should be reflected in the feasibility
studies for DH networks.
4.2.1.3 Heating demand load
The heating demand load on the DH network is smooth for all the cases simulated,
without large oscillations (see Figure 4.5). The reason is the control of each radiator
by individual thermostatic valve with the thermostatic head (in IDA-ICE modelled as
proportional controller), which reacts immediately on changes of heating demand in
the room. However, this is not the case for floor heating, which is usually controlled
68
by on/off valves resulting in rapid oscillations in heating demand from the DH
network [58], not shown in the figure.
2,5
heat power [kW]
2,0
1,5
1,0
0,5
0,0
48
72
time [h]
96
A; 5W/m2; 20°C
B; 4.2W/m2; 20°C
C; 4.2W/m2-scheduled; 20°C
D; 4.2 W/m2 - scheduled; 22°C
120
Figure 4.5 – Heat load on DH network from SH system with radiators (excluding heating coil)
Figure 4.5 shows the difference in heating demand needed for the space heating
system modelled with continuous internal heat gains (cases A and B) and scheduled
(cases C and D). It can be seen that compared to the averaged continuous value the
heat output needed for scheduled internal heat gains oscillates ± 0,8 kW, but from the
perspective of the DH network these oscillations are negligible.
4.2.1.4 Air heating coil
The heating coil covers only a small part of the heating demand, only around 4%, but
still needs to be installed. For exhaust air with a temperature of 20°C, a heat recovery
unit with 76% thermal efficiency can heat up outdoor air to 15°C (air supplied in the
rooms is expected to gain 1°C from the fan and heat gains in the distribution pipes)
theoretically with a minimum outdoor temperature of -0.8°C, or if it has a thermal
efficiency of 85%, with an outdoor temperature of -8°C. However, in reality the heat
recovery unit should activate frost protection, partially bypassing the inlet air when
the temperature of the outlet air drops below 1°C, which means that the heating coil is
already needed for an outdoor temperature of -2°C and -5°C for recovery efficiencies
of 76% and 85%, respectively. It might be possible to use an additional pre-heater
inserted before the heat recovery, e.g. supplied by return water from the radiator
system, but this system was not investigated.
Regarding limited heating demand of the heating coil but its high connection heating
power, it is suggested to use electric heating coil rather than hydronic heating coil,
because this would reduce the heat connection power by 2.2 kW, investment cost and
complexity of the SH system. It is true that from the perspective of exergy this is not
an ideal solution, but on the other hand recent increases in the share of RES for
electricity production are slowly changing the mind set in favour of electric heating,
making this solution more acceptable. However, it should be stressed that for
69
electricity use, a primary factor of 2.5 should be applied, and not 0.8 as for DH,
meaning possible problems with fulfilling energy frame of BR10 regulations [53].
This solution should be preferable mainly for houses with DHW heated in DH water
storage tank, because it considerably reduces the needed connection power. But the
benefit will be in the network seen also for houses with substation with instantaneous
heat exchanger.
4.2.2 Conclusions
•
Internal heat gains reduced from 5 W/m2 to 4.2 W/m2 due to higher efficiency
of the house equipment results in approximately 20% increase in annual
heating demand. Indoor temperature set to 22°C instead of 20°C representing
value preferred by the occupants results in additional 27% increase of annual
heating demand. Together it is approximately 60% increase of expected annual
heating demand compared to the values suggested by Be10.
•
Modelling internal heat gains as intermittent instead of continuous averaged
values resulted in negligible increase of annual heating demand but in 16%
increase of maximal heating output needed from the space heating system.
•
Space heating system traditionally designed based on DS 418 for 20°C desired
temperature fits very well required heating output needed for the most realistic
case of daily living, i.e. 22°C desired temperature and reduced internal heat
gains. The annual return temperature increases by 3.2°C, but it is still below
designed return temperature 25°C.
•
Documented higher value of expected annual heating demand will improve
economy of DH feasibility studies and thus make DH more competitive to the
alternative individual heating solutions.
•
Space heating system with low-temperature radiators supplied by lowtemperature DH provides required thermal comfort for occupants while
keeping the heating load on the district heating network smooth, without high
oscillations. However modelling the internal heat gains as with intermittent
profile based on the hourly schedule varies the annual heating load ±0.8 kW.
•
Considering defrosting of the heat recovery unit during very could outdoor
temperatures requires to equip the ventilation system with air heating coil to
ensure that air supplied to the rooms will be in worse case maximally 4°C
lower than required indoor temperature and thus comply with high
requirements for comfort.
70
5 General Conclusions
5 GENERAL CONCLUSIONS
The following paragraph gives answers to the hypothesis defined in chapter 1.3. More
detailed conclusions are at the end of each dedicated chapter.
General conclusion
In general, it can be concluded that both low-energy and existing buildings can be
supplied using low-temperature DH with a supply temperature of 50°C and still meet
the requirements for DHW and thermal comfort if the DH substation, the DHW
system and the space heating system are designed for low-temperature operation. The
DHW systems designed for low-temperature operation ensure delivery of DHW with
desired temperature, in time comparable to traditional DH and without increased risk
of Legionella. However, to ensure the required thermal comfort for the occupants in
existing buildings while not exceeding the designed flow and return temperatures of
DH water, the DH supply temperature should be increased above 50°C during cold
periods, whose length will be defined by the space heating system and the
refurbishment measures carried out on the building.
DHW heated by Low-temperature DH
Based on the literature study is concluded that the DHW temperature can be below
60°C without increased risk of Legionella if the overall volume of DHW is below 3L.
This finding sets the rule for designing the DHW systems supplied by lowtemperature DH.
The laboratory tests confirmed that a low-temperature DH substation supplied with
50°C warm water can produce required 47°C warm DHW, while cooling the DH
water to 20°C. However, developed numerical model accounting for the influence of
the service pipes showed that the delivery time of DHW is highly dependent on the
stand-by operation of the service pipes. Leaving the supply service pipe cool down in
the periods without the heating demand leads up to 15 s waiting time for DHW with
40°C, which is by 5 s longer than 10 s suggested by the DHW standard. By using the
external bypass, keeping the supply service pipe warm and inlet to the substation on
35°C the waiting time is reduced to 11 s, i.e. slightly above the suggested value.
The results therefore documents that low-temperature DH can be used for delivery of
DHW, with required comfort temperature of 45°C and without increased risk of
Legionella if the volume of DHW system is below 3L. Use of external bypass solution
is needed to keep the waiting time for DHW short as possible.
Energy efficient use of bypass flow
Numerical simulations applied on the example of low-temperature DH network
showed that the proposed solution of redirecting the bypassed water during the nonheating period to the floor heating in the bathroom reduces the heat loss from the DH
71
network by 13% while increasing the floor temperature by 2.2°C on average in
comparison to traditional bypass solution with thermostatic bypass valve.
The 13% reduction of heat loss from the DH network corresponds to 40% of the
additional heat delivered to the bathroom and therefore it seems reasonable to bill the
customers only for 60% of heat used in the bathroom floor heating during the nonheating period. In DH networks with DH heat sources profiting from reduced DH
return temperature as e.g. condensation boilers, combined heat and power plants or
solar-thermal plants should be added also benefit of reduced return temperature and
result in further discount on heat used in bathroom floor heating during the nonheating period.
The concept is advantageous for DH customers by improvement of the thermal
comfort for the discounted price, for the DH utility to monetize some of the heat
losses and for the environment by increasing of energy efficiency of the DH heat
sources.
Space heating systems supplied by low-temperature DH in existing buildings
Most existing single-family houses built after the 1970s can be supplied with lowtemperature DH with a temperature of 55°C for almost 95% of the Danish design
reference year without exceeding the design water flow rate from the DH network
while heated up to an indoor operative temperature of 22°C. During the rest of the
year, the supply temperature should be increased in accordance with the non-linear
supply temperature curve, for our case up to 67°C. Lowering the indoor set-point
temperature to 20°C, installation of low-temperature radiators or refurbishment of the
building will reduce the maximum temperature needed in the space heating system
and extend the period when the DH supply temperature can be 50°C.
Reducing the DH supply temperature to 50°C requires replacement of the currently
used substations with the low-temperature DH substations to ensure that the DHW is
produced with the required temperature and without increased risk of Legionella.
To ensure a gradual transition to a temperature level of 50°C in the shortest possible
period, DH companies should require that all new installed and refurbished DH
substations are already designed for low-temperature DH.
Space heating systems supplied by low-temperature DH in low-energy buildings
A low-energy single-family house equipped with a low-temperature space heating
system with radiators can be supplied from a low-temperature DH system and ensure
the required thermal comfort while maintaining a smooth heating demand on the DH
network and cooling the heating water to a low return temperature.
Be10 input values traditionally used for calculation of heating demand in the
buildings, but in fact not meant for this purpose, leads in comparison with more
realistic data reported in the literature and reflecting reduced heat gains thanks to the
72
higher efficiency of home appliances and increased indoor temperature set-point to
22°C instead of 20°C in as much as 58% higher heating demand and in up to 20%
over dimensioned heat connection power for the space heating system. Lower
expected annual heating demand and over-dimensioned heat connection power
negatively influences cost-effectiveness analyses of planned DH systems and
therefore careful consideration of the correct input values is very important for their
future successful expansion.
73
6 Further Work and Recommendations
6 FURTHER WORK AND
RECOMMENDATIONS
Further work and recommendations can be summarised under the following headings:
DHW systems and Legionella
 The combination of uncertainty about Legionella and the respect of DH
utilities for Legionella bacteria could be a showstopper for low-temperature
DH with a supply temperature (at the inlet to the substation) of 50°C. If this
happens, the supply temperature should be increased to 55°C to ensure that the
minimal DHW temperature produced by the LTDH substation is 50°C to
comply with current DHW standards.
 Most research on the risk of Legionella has been carried out in old fashioned
DHW systems where the problems are expected to be found. There is a lack of
knowledge about the risk in DHW systems with a low volume of DHW and
therefore more research is needed.
 To improve energy efficiency and avoid the risk of Legionella, it is advisable
to stop using DHW circulation. Keeping DHW circulation will require an
increase in DH supply temperature to at least 65° to ensure that DHW returns
from the circulation with 55°C. However, many DH companies already today
guarantee only a DH supply temperature of 60°C at the substation, which
means that the temperature from DHW circulation must be below 55°C in
many houses already today.
 An alternative solution to the advanced oxidation technology needed to
eliminate Legionella in a DHW system with DHW temperature below 50°C
and water volume above 3L could be to use an electric heater, increasing the
DHW temperature locally to the level of thermal disinfection (60-70°C),
followed immediately by a heat recovery system to cool the disinfected DHW
to 45°C by transferring the excess heat to the new DHW just coming from the
circulation loop. We are not aware of the existence of any such solution on the
market.
DH substations
 Reducing the number of plates in the DHW HEX from 40 to 20 will reduce the
recovery time of the substation by about 1 s, while the increase in the return
temperature of DH will be marginal. A similar reduction in mass could be
applied to the pipes and fittings in the substation, e.g. by integration of
individual fittings and/or by using plastic components. Any of these solutions
will reduce the price of the substation and thus improve DH’s position on the
market.
 An internal bypass solution is currently applicable only as part of the IHPT
DHW controller. However, IHPT controllers as designed today cannot operate
with a DH supply temperature below 50°C. In view of the trend of insulating
75
6 Further Work and Recommendations
•
DHW HEX, the recommendation is to develop and test solutions for an
internal bypass also for low-temperature house substations. However, national
DHW regulations should be studied first to see if this solution can be applied
in regards to Legionella proliferation in the HEX, kept consciously warm.
Reducing the recovery time for the substation could be also realised by
reducing the DHW flow at the beginning of tapping. Using a self-acting
controller to implement this solution would be very difficult, but the solution
could be realised electronically, going hand-in-hand with the requirement that
all new heating systems installed after 2014 have to be equipped with an
electronic controller for weather compensation.
Comfort Bathroom
• The recommendation is to develop and implement an electronic valve for
controlling the bypass flow, reducing the volume of bypassed water.
• The recommendation is to make a more detailed model of floor heating in the
bathroom, reflecting various pipe layouts. This can be done in IDA-ICE by
dividing the bathroom into small segments and connecting them hydraulically
based on the pipe layout. The individual segments should be connected for
horizontal thermal transfer.
Low-temperature DH in buildings
• The recommendation is to investigate the performance of direct space heating
system with radiators without a mixing loop (as in the Lystrup show case). A
constant supply temperature of 50°C and low heating demand during moderate
outdoor temperatures can lead to very small flows of heating water, which can
cause problems for radiator thermostatic valves.
• The recommendation is to compare different space heating systems supplied
by low-temperature DH, from the perspective of both the DH company and the
customer.
• The recommendation is to investigate the feasibility of preheating the inlet air
before it enters the heat recovery unit using heating water returning from
radiators.
• DH companies should be stricter in reducing the DH supply temperatures
because high temperatures are often required due to malfunctions in individual
in-house systems
76
7 References
7 REFERENCES
[1]
Danish Government 2011, Our future energy, Danish Ministry of Climate,
Energy and Building, Copenhagen, Denmark.
[2]
The Directive 2010/31/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19
May 2010 on the energy performance of buildings, Official Journal of the
European Union, 53, 2010
[3]
Marszal A J, Heiselberg P, Bourrelle J S, Musall E, Voss K, Sartori I, et al. Zero
Energy Building – A review of definitions and calculation methodologies.
Energy and Buildings 2011, 43:971-979
[4]
Aalborg
University
and
Ramboll.
Heat
plan
Denmark,
http://www.energymap.dk/Profiles/Ramboll/Projects/Heat-Plan-Denmark; 2010
[5]
Dalla Rosa, A; Boulter, R; Church, K; Svendsen, S. District heating network
design toward a system-wide methodology for optimizing renewable energy
sources in Canada: a case study. Energy 2012; 45: 960-974.
[6]
Schmidt D. Low exergy systems for high-performance buildings and
communities. Energy and Buildings 2009,41;331-336
[7]
Danish Energy Agency, “EUDP 2010 Lavtemperatur fjernvarme i eksisterende
bebyggelser” (”Low-temperature district heating in existing buildings”). 2010.
Description of project: www.energiteknologi.dk, accessed June 2013.
[8]
Christiansen CH, Dalla Rosa A, Brand M, Olsen PK, Thorsen JE. Results and
experiences from a 2 year study with measurements on a new low-temperature
district heating system for low-energy buildings. In: Proceedings of 13th
International Symposium on District Heating and Cooling, September 3-4,
2013, Copenhagen, Denmark
77
7 References
[9]
Lund H, Möller B, Mathiesen BV, Dyrelund A. The role of district heating in
future renewable energy systems. Energy 2010; 35:1381–90
[10] EUDP - Energiteknologiske udvikling og demonstrationsprogram (Energy
Technology
Development
and
Demonstration
Programme)
http://www.energiteknologi.dk/
[11] Strategic Research Centre for Zero Energy Buildings. http://www.zeb.aau.dk/.
[online]. 2013
[12] Bolius – boligejernes videncenter. Energirenovering af parcelhus fra 1973.
[online],
reached
27.3.2013,
http://www.bolius.dk/alt-
om/energi/artikel/energirenovering-af-parcelhus-fra-1973/
[13] Plan C. http://www.gate21.dk/Projekter/Plan-C/ [online] 2013
[14] Final report EFP 2007: Development and demonstration of low-energy district
heating for low-energy buildings (Hovedrapport EFP 2007: “Udvikling og
Demonstration af Lavenergifjernvarme til Lavenergibyggeri), in Danish, 2009
[15] Final report EUDP 2008 – II: CO2-reductions in low energy buildings and
communities by implementation of low temperature district heating systems.
Demonstration cases in Boligforeningen Ringgården and EnergyFlexHouse
(partly
in
Danish),
2011,
available
at
(February
2012)
http://www.byg.dtu.dk/Forskning/Publikationer/Byg_rapporter.aspx
[16] EUDP
project
“Varmepumper
til
brugsvand
i
forbindelse
med
lavtemperaturfjernvarme” (Heat pumps for DHW supplied by low-temperature
district heating), available at http://www.energiteknologi.dk [online] 2013
[17] Dalla Rosa A. The Development of a New District Heating Concept. Network
Design and Optimization for Integrating Energy Conservation and Renewable
78
7 References
Energy Use in Energy Sustainable Communities. PhD thesis; Technical
University of Denmark, 2012
[18] Dansk Fjernvarme Benchmarking statistik; 2011-2012. Danish District Heating
statistics 2011-2012. Dansk Fjernvarme 2012
[19] Udviklingstendenser i dansk fjernvarme – Årsstatistik 2011. Dansk Fjernvarme
2011
[20] Technical documentation for AluFlex pipes. www.logstor.com. Available
online (February 2012)
[21] Tol, Hİ, District heating in areas with low energy houses – Optimization of
renewable energy based low-energy district heating systems with low
temperature supply, PhD Dissertation, 2013, DTU-Tryk: Byg Report R-283.
[22] Dansk Standard, “DS 439 - Code of Practice for domestic water supply
installations”, 2009
[23] European Standard, “EN15251 - Indoor environmental input parameters for
design and assessment of energy performance of buildings addressing indoor air
quality, thermal environment, lighting and acoustics”, 2007
[24] Brand M, Thorsen JE, Svendsen S. Numerical modelling and experimental
measurements
for
a
low-temperature
district
heating
substation
for
instantaneous preparation of DHW with respect to service pipes. Energy
2012;41:392:400
[25] Paulsen O, Fan J, Furbo S, Thorsen JE. “Consumer Unit for Low Energy
District Heating Net”, Published at the 11th International Symposium on
District Heating and Cooling, August 31 to September 2, 2008, Reykjavik,
ICELAND
79
7 References
[26] Teknikmarknad, Legionellaavdödning och sänkt tappvattentemperatur - en
ekologisk metod, 2011-09-07-03, Dnr 2010-003608, Allmän rapport Energimyndigheten 2011
[27] The Danish building regulations 2008 (in Danish); 2008
[28] Dalla Rosa A, Christensen JE. Low-energy district heating in energy-efficient
building areas. Energy, 2011;36:6890-6899
[29] Brand. M, Dalla Rosa A, Svendsen. S, Energy-Efficient and Cost Effective InHouse Substations Bypass for Improving Thermal and DHW Comfort in
Bathrooms in Low-Energy Buildings Supplied by Low-Temperature District
Heating. in Energy 2014, vol. 67, p. 256-267.
[30] Martinelli F, Caruso A, Moschini L, Turano A, Scarella C, Speziani F. “A
Comparison of Legionella Pneumophila Occurrence in Hot Water Tanks and
Instantaneous
Devices
in
Domestic,
Nosocomial,
and
Community
Environments”, Current Microbiology, 2000, Vol. 41, pp. 374-376
[31] Liu Z, Lin YE, Stout JE, Hwang CC, Vidic RD, Yu LJ. Effect of flow regimes
on the presence of Legionella within the biofilm of a model plumbing system.
Journal of Applied Microbiology 2006;101:437e42.
[32] Rühling
K,
Rothmann
Sicherheitsabständen
R.
zur
Untersuchungen
Zone
des
zur
Verifizierung
Legionellenwaschstums
in
von
der
Trinkwassererwärmung. 2013
[33] DVGW, “W551 – Trinkwassererwärmungs- und Trinkwasserleitungsanlagen”,
1993, Bonn, (in German)
80
7 References
[34] Dansk Standard Information, ” DN/CEN/TR 16355 – Recommendations for
prevention of Legionella growth in installations inside buildings conveying
water for human consumption, 2012
[35] Akva Lux II TD datasheet. www.danfoss.com [online] 2013
[36] Comfort LGS/LGM II S datasheet. Danfoss - Redan International. Business to
Business (B2B) Documentation
[37] Danfoss microplate technology. http://heating.danfoss.com [online] 2013
[38] Akva Lux II S datasheet. www.danfoss.com [online] 2013
[39] PTC2+P datasheet, Danfoss - Redan International. Business to Business (B2B)
Documentation
[40] Dalla Rosa A, Li H, Svendsen S, Modelling transient heat transfer in small-size
twin pipes for end-user connections to low-energy district heating networks,
Heat Transfer Engineering, article accepted in February 2010
[41] Zvingilaite E, Ommen T, Elmegaard B, Franck ML. Low temperature district
heating consumer unit with micro heat pump for domestic hot water preparation.
Published at the 13th International Symposium on District Heating and Cooling,
September 3-4, 2013, Copenhagen, Denmark
[42] Kristjansson H. “Distribution Systems in Apartment Buildings”, Published at
the 11th International Symposium on District Heating and Cooling, August 31
to September 2, 2008, Reykjavik, ICELAND
[43] Personal correspondence with Efsen Engineering AS, representative for
Wallenius Water AS in Denmark
[44] Danfoss
Hex
Calculation
Software,
www.Danfoss.com.
81
downloaded
8/2011
from
7 References
[45] MATLAB and SIMULINK®, version R2010a, www.matlab.com
[46] Persson T. “District Heating for Residential Areas with Single-Family Housing,
Chapter 6 – Modelling of Components in a District Heating System, Doctoral
Thesis, Lund Institute of Technology, Lund, 2005
[47] Return temperature limiter type FJVR, datasheet, Danfoss A/S. downloaded
from “www.heating.danfoss.com”, accessed June 2013.
[48] Dalla Rosa A, Li H, Svendsen S. Method for optimal design of pipes for lowenergy district heating with focus on heat losses, Energy, 2011;36:2407-2418
[49] Li H, Svendsen S. Energy and exergy analysis of low temperature district
heating network. in Energy 2012, vol. 45, p. 237-246.
[50] Dalla Rosa A, Brand M, Svendsen S, “Energy-efficient and cost-effective use of
DH bypass for improving thermal comfort in bathrooms in low-energy
buildings”, In proceedings of 13th International Symposium on DHC, 2013,
September 3rd-4th,Copenhagen, Denmark
[51] IHPT datasheet, Danfoss - Redan International Business to Business (B2B)
Documentation
[52] Thermostatic Radiator Valve (TRV) FHV-A, datasheet, Danfoss A/S.
downloaded from “www.heating.danfoss.com”, accessed June 2013.
[53] The Danish building regulations 2010 (in Danish). Available online (February
2012) at http://www.ebst.dk/bygningsreglementet.dk; 2010
[54] Molin A., Rohdin P., Moshfegh B., “Investigation of energy performance of
newly built low-energy buildings in Sweden”, in Energy and Buildings 2011;
43:2822-31
[55] EQUA, IDA-ICE 4.22, www.equa.se/ice/intro.html, 2013
82
7 References
[56] Termis software, vers. 2.10, www.7t.dk
[57] Brand. M, Svendsen. S, Renewable-based low-temperature district heating for
existing buildings in various stages of refurbishment. in Energy 2013, vol. 62, p.
311-319.
[58] Brand M, Lauenburg P, Wollestrand J, Zbořil V, Optimal space heating system
for low-energy single-family house supplied by district heating, In: Proceedings
PassivHus Norden, October 21-23, 2012, Trondheim, Norway
[59] Meier, A. 1983, "What is the cost to you of conserved energy?" Harvard
Business Review, vol. 61, no. 1, pp. 36-37.
[60] Morelli, M. Development of a method for holistic energy renovation. PhD
Dissertation, 2013, DTU-Tryk: Byg Report R-283.
[61] Harrestrup M, Svendsen s. Change in heat load profile for typical Danish multistorey buildings when energy-renovated and supplied with low-temperature
district heating. Submitted to Energy, 2013
[62] Larsen TS. EnergiParcel – Statusrapport 2010, Aalborg Universitet, Institut for
Byggeri og Anlæg, 2010
[63] Dansk Standard, “DS 418 Calculation of heat loss from buildings”, 2011, 7th
edition
[64] Korado. www.korado.com [Online] 2013
[65] Personal correspondence with Affaldvarme Århus (Århus District Heating
Utility)
[66] Be10 - Energy Demand Calculation Tool for Buildings, Danish Building
Research Institute, 2010, www.sbi.dk
83
7 References
[67] Energistyrelsen, Håndbog for Energikonsulenter. Version 3, 2008, [online]
reached
27.3.2013,
http://www.maerkdinbygning.dk/Materiale/Files/H%C3%A5ndbog+for+energi
kon sulenter+2008%2c+version+3.pdf
[68] Tommerup H, Rose J, Svendsen S. Energy-efficient houses built according to
the energy performance requirements introduced in Denmark in 2006. Energy
and Buildings 39 (2007) 1123–1130
[69] Bahal – passive houses. www.bahal.cz
[70] P.K. Olsen et al. Low-temperature district heating system for low-energy
buildings. Presented at the 11th International Symposium on District Heating
and Cooling, Reykjavik, Iceland, 2008.
84
8 List of Figures
8 LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1.1 – Concept of low-temperature district heating ............................................. 1
Figure 1.2 – Relation between main hypothesis and sub-hypothesis ............................ 4
Figure 2.1 – left: Share of DH in heat delivery in Denmark 2012; right: Share of heat
sources in DH for 2011 [18] .......................................................................................... 6
Figure 2.2 – left: Development of heat source shares in DH in the period 1994-2012
[19] (green – RES, red – natural gas, black – coal, blue – oil); right: Development of
fuel prices for DH in the period 1997-2011 [18] (blue – oil, red – natural gas, azure –
wood pellets, violet – wood chips, green - straw) .......................................................... 7
Figure 3.1 – Risk of Legionella proliferation related to the DHW temperature [32] .. 13
Figure 3.2 – Example of location and connection of DHW tapping points designed in
proximity of DH house substation based on the instantaneous principle of DHW in
Lystrup. The table shows the transportation delay for nominal and expected flows and
lengths of individual feeding pipes (inner diameter 10 mm) ....................................... 14
Figure 3.3 – Low-temperature DH substations; left: instantaneous DHW principle, i.e.
IHEU [35], right: storage tank for DH water, i.e. DHSU [25], [36] ............................ 15
Figure 3.4 – The new Micro Plate™ design compared with the traditionally used fish
bone design (courtesy of Danfoss A/S) ....................................................................... 16
Figure 3.5 – Various bypass strategies for IHEU; left: no bypass; middle: external
bypass (cold HEX) with set-point temperature 35°C; right: internal bypass (warm
HEX) with set-point temperature 47°C (defined by DHW set-point 45°C) ................ 18
Figure 3.6 – left: Cooling down of DH water standing in an AluFlex 20/20/110
service pipe during idling. The initial temperature of water in pipe is 50°C, and the
initial temperature of the insulation is 15°C ; right: Effect of the thermal capacity of
an AluFlex 20/20/110 service pipe during reheating of the pipe ................................. 19
Figure 3.7 – Principle of low-temperature DH substation combined with micro heat
pump [41]. .................................................................................................................... 20
Figure 3.8 – Comparison of DHW systems in multi-storey building [42]; left –
traditional system with vertical risers; right – flat station system ............................... 22
85
8 List of Figures
Figure 3.9 - Principle of thermal disinfection with heat recovery for LTDH.
Calculation made by Danfoss HEXcalc software [44] ................................................ 23
Figure 3.10 – Experimental setup for measurements of IHEU .................................... 25
Figure 3.11 – Structure of model investigating waiting time for DHW in the DH
substation without a storage/buffer tank ...................................................................... 26
Figure 3.12 – Description of the numerical model of the HEX with three sections .... 27
Figure 3.13 – PTC2+P DHW controller [39], courtesy of Danfoss A/S. .................... 28
Figure 3.14 –Part of the Simulink model of the IHEU substation – detail on HEX
model............................................................................................................................ 29
Figure 3.15 – Comparison of experimentally measured “meas” and numerically
simulated “sim” temperatures T22 and T12 for an IHEU equipped with a PTC2+P
controller for the same input data ................................................................................ 30
Figure 3.16 - Temperature profile along a 10 m long SP AluFlex 20/20/110 for an
IHEU equipped with an external bypass in traditional and continual operation modes.
Traditional bypass: set-point 35°C, deadband ±2.5°C, bypass flow rate 3 L/min,
Tground=14°C. Continual bypass: temperature drop 50-35°C, flow rate 0.024 L/min,
Tground=14 C.................................................................................................................. 31
Figure 3.17 – Example of continuous bypass flow needed to keep inlet to substation
on 35°C for the customer in close, middle and far location from the heating plant;
network represents low-temperature district heating project in Lystrup, Denmark [7]
...................................................................................................................................... 37
Figure 3.18 – Technical solution for CB implementation. Direct SH system without
mixing loop: a) reference case without CB, with traditional external bypass; b) CB
realised with a needle valve (installed in parallel to TRV valve on supply pipe or in
parallel to FJVR valve on the return pipe of FH loop); c) CB realised with a FJVR
bypass valve. Direct SH system with mixing loop: d) CB realised with a FJVR bypass
valve; e) CB realised with a needle valve and capillary tube. Indirect SH system: f)
CB realised with FJVR bypass valve. .......................................................................... 38
Figure 3.19 – Influence of DHW tapping on the temperature and flow rate of DH
bypass water on the inlet to substation, when controlled by needle valve and
thermostatic bypass valve ............................................................................................ 41
86
8 List of Figures
Figure 3.20 - Comparison of: a) Tfloor and b) Tret in CB for two locations in the DH
network modelled with four different control strategies for the bypass flow, with the
output for results in steps of 3.6 s. ............................................................................... 42
Figure 3.21 – Top and Tfloor in bathroom during non-heating period, considering
various control of floor heating system ....................................................................... 44
Figure 3.22 – Tfloor during a non-heating period in a bathroom with CB realised with a
needle valve or an FJVR valve .................................................................................... 45
Figure 3.23 - Tfloor during non-heating period in a bathroom with CB realised with a
needle valve or electronic step valve ........................................................................... 46
Figure 4.1 - Construction of weather-compensated supply temperature curve for nonrenovated house, set-point temperature 22 °C. ............................................................ 55
Figure 4.2 – Supply temperature curves for all the cases investigated. LT – low
temperature radiators, HIGHFLOW – hydraulic limit of SH system and DH network
increased to 400 L/h, ToutSHIFT – 6 hours time delay when the Tout increases .......... 57
Figure 4.3 – Percentage of hours during a year with supply temperature higher than
50°C; case non-renovated ODUM represents conditions with real weather data input
...................................................................................................................................... 58
Figure 4.4 – Ground plan of 159m2 single-family house built in IDA-ICE................. 65
Figure 4.5 – Heat load on DH network from SH system with radiators (excluding
heating coil) ................................................................................................................. 69
87
9 List of Tables
9 LIST OF TABLES:
Table 3-1 – Recovery time for IHEU for various boundary conditions ...................... 33
Table 3-2 - Matrix of simulated cases .......................................................................... 44
Table 3-3 - Comparison of simulated cases for non-heating period 15/4 – 15/11, i.e.
5160 hours, at a price of 650 DKK/MWh.................................................................... 47
Table 3-4 – Results from the network simulation with the application of only the
“continuous bypass” (A) or “CB concept” in the summer season (B). ....................... 49
Table 4-1 - Comparison of heating demand, peak heat power (Pmax) and weighted
average return temperature (TRW) for all the cases investigated. ............................... 60
Table 4-2 – Connection heat power for space heating system (radiators, heating coil
and total) and annual return temperature from the radiators for all simulated cases ... 66
Table 4-3 – Heating demand, length of heating period and annual return temperature
from space heating for all simulated cases .................................................................. 68
88
Appendices
APPENDICES
Appendix I
to service pipes
Appendix II
Appendix III
Appendix IV
Schedule for Internal Heat Gains
89
Appendix I
ISI paper I
to service pipes
Brand M, Thorsen J E, Svendsen S
in Energy 2012, vol. 41(1), p. 392-400
I
Energy 41 (2012) 392e400
Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect
Energy
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/energy
to service pipes
Marek Brand a, *, Jan Eric Thorsen b, Svend Svendsen a
a
b
Department of Civil Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, Brovej, Building 118, DK-2800 Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark
Danfoss District Energy, Nordborg, Denmark
a r t i c l e i n f o
a b s t r a c t
Article history:
Received 1 October 2011
Received in revised form
23 February 2012
Accepted 26 February 2012
Available online 30 March 2012
Traditional district heating (DH) systems are becoming uneconomic as the number of new and renovated
buildings with reduced heating requirements increases. To keep DH competitive in the future, heat losses
in DH networks need to be reduced. One option is to reduce the supply temperature of DH as much as
possible. This requires a review and improvement of a DH network, in-house substations, and the whole
domestic hot water (DHW) supply system, with the focus on user comfort, hygiene, overall cost and
energy efficiency. This paper describes some practical approaches to the implementation of lowtemperature district heating (LTDH) with an entry-to-substation temperature around 50 C. To this
end we developed a numerical model for an instantaneous LTDH substation that takes into consideration
the effect of service pipes. The model has been verified and can be used for the further optimization of
the whole concept as well for individual components. The results show that the way that the service pipe
is operated has a significant effect on waiting time for DHW, heat loss, and overall cost. Furthermore, the
service pipe should be kept warm by using a bypass in order to fulfil the comfort requirements for DHW
instantaneously prepared.
Ó 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords:
District heating
Low temperature
DHW
Numerical model
Simulation
Bypass
1. Low-temperature district heating
District heating (DH) is a way of providing buildings with heat
for space heating (SH) and domestic hot water (DHW) preparation in an economical and environmentally friendly way. Nowadays, building regulations have been introduced worldwide and
are helping to reduce energy consumption in buildings, because
40% of all energy consumption takes place in buildings. The
energy policy of the European Union is currently focused on
security of supply, energy savings, reducing production of CO2,
and increasing the proportion of renewable energy [1]. DH is one
of the best ways to achieve these goals in the building sector and
its further development has high priority. According to Heat Plan
Denmark 2008, DH systems supplied by renewable energy
sources could cover up to 70% of heating demand in Denmark by
2050. The remaining 30% is assumed to be covered by individual
heat pumps, installed mainly in areas with low heat demand
* Corresponding author. Tel.: þ45 45251884; fax: þ45 45883282.
E-mail addresses: marek@byg.dtu.dk (M. Brand), jet@danfoss.com (J.E. Thorsen),
ss@byg.dtu.dk (S. Svendsen).
0360-5442/$ e see front matter Ó 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.energy.2012.02.061
density [2,3]. Nevertheless, traditional high and medium
temperature DH systems are not optimal solutions for the future
[4]. To accord with EPBD [5], all buildings constructed after 2020
must be near Zero-Energy Buildings [6] and this will create areas
with lower heat demand than today. Table 1 shows the implementation of EPBD for newly built residential buildings in
Denmark valid since 2008 [7] and the update in 2010 [8]. The
values of the maximum specific primary energy demand, account
for space heating, DHW heating and electricity for operation of
HVAC systems (pumps, fans).
The DH networks in current use will not be able supply heat to
these areas in an economical way, because the ratio between
network heat losses and the heat consumption in the buildings
would be unacceptably high, the cost of heat for the end-users
would increase, and DH systems would cease to be competitive
with other solutions, such as heat pumps [9]. Research in the field
of DH has recently focused on the supply of areas with low heat
demand and low-energy buildings [10] and on increasing the
proportion of heat produced by renewable sources of energy, such
as solar heat plants, geothermal energy, or heat pumps driven by
electricity from renewable sources. Attention has also been paid to
the smart grid concept, where buildings connected to DH network
M. Brand et al. / Energy 41 (2012) 392e400
Table 1
Primary energy factors and energy frames for residential building in Denmark in
accordance with BR08 and BR10.
Energy frame calculation [kWh/(m2.a)]
BR08
Class BR08
Low-energy class 1
Low-energy class 2
BR10
Class BR10
Class 2015
Class 2020
a
b
Prim. energy factors
DH
Electricity
70 þ 2200/Ab
35 þ 1100/A
50 þ 1600/A
1
2.5
52.5 þ 1650/A
30 þ 1000/A
20
1
0.8
0.6
2.5
2.5/2.2a
1.8
The value will be based on share of renewable sources, not decided yet.
Gross heated area [m2].
are not only consumers of heat, but can also supply any surplus heat
back to the network [11]. The solution for the future development
of DH is to reduce the heat losses of DH networks by means of pipes
with better insulation properties, to improve network design with
reduced pipe diameters and the use of twin pipes [10,12], and to
reduce the supply temperature of district heating water to the
lowest possible level, and thus match the exergy levels of supply
and demand [13]. The District Heating Systems designed on the
basis of this philosophy are called Low-Temperature District Heating (LTDH) Systems.
1.1. Full-scale demonstration of LTDH
The LTDH concept was first reported in [10], where a theoretical
case study documented that LTDH is a good solution for the future
and is fully competitive with heat pumps even in sparse housing
areas. In Denmark, the first residential area with low-energy houses
supplied by LTDH was built in 2009. After 2 years’ experience, the
results were documented in [14] and agree with the theoretical
calculations. The system supplies 40 Class 1 low-energy houses (for
definition see Table 1) with district heating water on the design
conditions of 50 C/25 C. The DH network was built with highly
insulated twin pipes with series 2 insulation, which in combination
with the reduced diameter of the media pipes has resulted in an
average heat loss of only 17%. The pipes are commercially available
steel pipes or AluFlex pipes; the AluFlex media pipes are made of
PEX/PE layers with an aluminium foil between preventing water
diffusion, PUR insulation foam with l-value ranging from 0.022 to
0.023 W/(K m) and high density PE casing. A network design,
specification and complete list of pipes used in Lystrup can be
found in [14,15]. The project demonstrates that LTDH is a good
solution even for low-energy houses. Two types of newly developed low-temperature district heating in-house substations have
been tested by customers in real conditions: 29 Instantaneous Heat
Exchanger Units (IHEUs) [16], and 11 District Heating Storage Units
(DHSUs). The IHEU concept is a classical substation with an
instantaneous heat exchanger (HEX) that has been modified for
operation with low supply temperature, with an improved plates
pattern and enlarged surface area in the HEX. To supply DHW with
a short waiting time, the IHEU is equipped with an external bypass
with a set-point temperature of 35 C. The DHSU concept differs
from IHEUs in having a buffer tank for the storage of district heating
water, but the DHW is produced using an instantaneous principle
as in IHEUs [17]. The advantage of the substation having a buffer
tank lies in the heat load on the DH network being averaged out,
which allows reduced pipe dimensions in DH network resulting in
lower heat loss.
On-site measurements evaluating the long-term performance of
both types of DH substation are available. What we still lack are the
detailed measurements of the short time-steps needed to evaluate
393
the dynamic performance of the substations. These data are needed
to verify the numerical model to be used for the further optimization of units and whole LTDH concept. This paper describes the
LTDH concept with focus on the DHW supply and reports on the
dynamics of IHEUs, including service pipe (SP) operation mode, as
investigated using the numerical model we developed.
2. LTDH for DHW supply
2.1. Elimination of Legionella risk by using a system with a minimal
volume of DHW
Since LTDH was mainly developed for low-energy buildings
already designed with low-temperature space heating systems, the
lowest acceptable forward temperature is defined by the requirement to prepare DHW with the desired temperature without
needing additional heating. The hygienic requirements in the latest
guidelines [18] are to produce DHW with temperature of 50 C for
single-family houses and 55 C for multi-storey buildings to ensure
a minimum temperature of 50 C at the tap. In DHW systems with
circulation, the temperature of re-circulated water should never fall
below 50 C. These requirements are based on the need to avoid
Legionella growth in DHW pipes and storage tanks. Legionella
grows in a temperature range between 20 C and 46 C in systems
with a high volume of stagnating water, so the above-mentioned
temperature levels are necessary both to ensure comfort and to
meet hygienic requirements in the tap furthest away from the heat
source. Nevertheless we see a high level of discrepancy between
national standards and the results of research focused on Legionella. In the literature, the danger of Legionella growth in DHW
systems is affected by the temperature of DHW, the nutrients in
DHW, the flow type (laminar or turbulent) in the DHW pipes, and
water stagnation [19]. On-site measurements have been performed
in buildings using DH for DHW heating, and the results [20,21]
show that Instantaneous Heat Exchanger Units (IHEUs) have
fewer problems with Legionella than traditional units with a DHW
storage tank. Both studies agreed that these findings are due to the
fact that IHEUs usually produce DHW with a temperature of 60 C,
while in storage units the temperature is 50 C or lower. Another
reason for the higher occurrence of Legionella in DHW plants with
storage tanks is a high volume of stagnating water, which results in
sedimentation on the inner surface of the tank creating conditions
for Legionella growth. Nevertheless, based on the studied literature,
it can be concluded that the requirements to produce DHW with
a temperature higher than 50 C are only defined for DHW plants
with a storage tank for DHW and old fashioned DHW building
installations, which can be characterized as systems with vertical
risers, branched pipes with large diameters (increasing the water
volume of the system), and using DHW circulation. Such systems
tend to hydraulic misbalance, which results in places with
a reduced temperature and thus a risk of Legionella growth.
For new and renovated buildings, DHW installations can be
designed in a much better way, with individual connection of DHW
feeding pipes between the source of DHW and each tap, and with
optimally reduced pipe diameters, defined by requirements for
noise propagation and pressure drop. Such a solution reduces the
volume of DHW in the system and, according to German Standard
W551 [22], the temperature of DHW can be below 50 C with no
risk of Legionella promotion, if the total volume of the DHW system
excluding HEX is less than 3 L. This allows the use of the LTDH
concept. For newly built multi-storey buildings, the state-of-the-art
solution is a district heating substation for each flat [23]. In this
case, each flat has its own individual system for DHW preparation
(with a volume of water below 3 L) and space heating. Such
a solution is very different from the traditional huge DHW systems,
394
in which DHW circulation was used to reduce both waiting time for
DHW and the growth of Legionella, and in which Legionella
sometimes arose anyway because of hydronic misbalance [24]. As
far as we know, no DHW systems using IHEUs with a volume of less
than 3L and producing DHW with a temperature below 50 C have
been investigated in relation to Legionella risk.
2.2.2. Delay for DHW on the primary side
Delays on primary side consist of delay in the DH substation, the
so-called recovery time and, for substations with an instantaneous
principle of DHW heating, i.e. IHEUs, delay in the SP. For substations
equipped with storage tanks, i.e. DHSU, the HEX is supplied direct
from the buffer tank so that the SP has no effect on the recovery
time.
2.2. User comfort in DHW supplied by LTDH
In addition to the hygienic requirements, a DHW system should
also fulfil requirements for comfort defined by the desired level of
temperature and waiting time for DHW. According to Danish
Standard DS439 [25], DHW provided with a nominal flow rate of
0.2 L/s and a desired temperature level of 45 C in the kitchen and
40 C in other taps should be delivered within a “reasonable” length
of time and without significant temperature fluctuations.
To comply with DS439, our suggested value for waiting time for
DHW is 10 s (with a flow rate of 0.2 L/s) to avoid wasting of water
and to provide users with DHW within a reasonable time. Waiting
time for DHW can be studied from various perspectives. From the
dynamic point of view, waiting time depends on transportation
time and the thermal capacity of the components, i.e. pipes and
substation. From the point of view of location, delays arise in three
areas: the SP (the pipe connecting the street pipe with the in-house
substation), the DH substation, and the DHW supply system in the
building. Time delay in the SP and substation is related to the DH
network, the substation type, and its control strategy, while time
delay in the DHW supply system in buildings without DHW
circulation is determined by the length and thermal capacity of
pipes, the volume of water in individual pipes, the nominal flow,
and to some extent also by the pipe insulation.
2.2.1. Waiting time for DHW in building supply system
For DHW systems with individual feeding pipes and an overall
volume of pipes less than 3 L, DHW circulation is not usually
needed, because transportation time is not critical with the short
distance from the substation. Table 2 lists the transportation times
for the individual fixtures in a typical house built in the pilot LTDH
project, Larch Garden at Lystrup in Denmark [14]. It should be
emphasized that the data are for transportation delays only,
ignoring the thermal mass of the pipes. The table shows that
a reasonably designed system, with fixtures close to each other and
not far from the substation, gives a maximum transportation delay
of about 6 s for the wash basin with nominal flow rates for individual tapping points. If we use a flow rate of 0.2 L/s (as suggested
in [25]), the transportation delay decreases to 1.6 s. However, the
suggestion of using 0.2 L/s for all tapping types is questionable. The
overall volume of pipes in the reference DHW supply system is
0.98 L, which means it is possible to install longer pipes or more
fixtures and still fulfil the requirement of a DHW system with
a volume of less than 3 L. According to [22] the volume of HEX is not
counted in the 3L volume. The velocity of water is below 2 m/s and
thus problems with noise propagation during tapping are avoided.
2.2.2.1. Recovery time of the substation. The recovery time of a DH
substation is the time needed for the substation to produce DHW
with the desired temperature. It is defined by the type of substation, controller, the thermal capacity of the components (HEX,
valves, pipes, fittings), the water volume of the HEX, the maximum
allowed primary flow rate, and to some extent by the insulation of
the substation and the time since the previous tapping.
Since substation recovery time is too complex for simple theoretical evaluation, we measured the performance of the IHEU
prototype specially developed for LTDH project at Lystrup [14] in
laboratory conditions, and then developed a numerical model of
a substation equipped with a PTC2þP controller.
2.2.2.2. Service pipes. The simplest SP control strategy is a solution
without a bypass (see Fig. 3). In this case, DH water in the SP flows
only when customer has a demand for DHW or SH, and this means
that during periods without heating demand (so-called idling), the
SP cools down to ambient ground temperatures and the substation
to the temperature of the technical room.
Fig. 1 shows the temperature drop in an SP AluFlex 20/20/110
(used for connection of the IHEUs) after tapping of DHW has
finished and the substation is idling. The simulation was made
using the commercial software COMSOL Multiphysics and reported
by Dalla Rosa [26].
The cooling of the SP was simulated for an idling period from
0 to 720 min and was simulated for three different ground
temperatures (3 C, 8 C and 14 C) with and an initial temperature of pipe insulation of 15 C (average value for typical conditions in Denmark). It can be seen that for periods without SH (i.e.
for a low-energy house approximately 6 months of the year from
April to October) with a typical average ground temperature
between 8 C and 14 C, the water standing in the SP is cooled
from 50 C down to 20 C if there is no tapping of DHW or bypass
flow after about 3 and 4 h for the ground temperatures of 8 C and
14 C respectively.
Table 2
Transportation delay for nominal flows for individual fixtures due to DS439, in DHW
system in typical house in Lystrup, for pipes with inner diameter 10 mm.
DHW
fixture
Shower
Basin
Kitchen
Nominal
flow
[L/min]
Length to
fixture [m]
8.4
3.4
6
2.2
4.1
6.3
Volume in
pipes [L]
0.17
0.32
0.49
Velocity
[m/s]
1.8
0.7
1.3
Transportation delay
[s] for
Nominal
flow
Flow 0.2
L/s
1.2
5.8
4.9
0.9
1.6
2.5
Fig. 1. Cooling down of DH water standing in an AluFlex 20/20/110 service pipe during
idling. The initial temperature of water in pipe is 50 C, and the initial temperature of
insulation is 15 C.
395
At the beginning of each tapping, water standing in the SP has to
be transported to the substation first before the “fresh” DH water
with a temperature of 50 C can enter the substation.
takes 8 s to supply warm DH water to the substation and another
1e5 s to supply the DHW produced to individual taps without
taking the recovery time of the substation into consideration.
2.2.2.3. The effect of thermal capacity on delay in the service
pipe. Flow-compensated temperature controllers with integrated
differential pressure control are state-of-the-art for DHW production in substations. The philosophy of the controller is to allow the
maximum possible flow rate on the primary side until the set-point
temperature on DHW is reached [27]. Maximum flow on the
primary side is defined by the kv-value of the control valve and by
the differential pressure available at the substation. Moreover,
a flow restrictor limiting the maximum primary flow can be
installed by the DH company. At Lystrup, the maximum flow rate on
the primary side is 17.3 L/min. The IHEU is supplied by an SP with an
inner diameter of 15 mm, i.e. for an SP with a length 10 m it takes
6.1 s before new water from the street pipe reaches the substation.
This simple calculation of transportation time in the SP does not
take into account the effect of the thermal capacity of the SP. The
impact of the thermal capacity of the pipe material on the delay has
been numerically simulated with a Matlab code developed inhouse and successfully validated with experimental data [28].
The impact of the thermal capacity of AluFlex 20/20/110 on
a temperature drop in water supplied into the IHEU is shown in
Fig. 2. The curves represent the temperatures measured at the inlet
of the substation for a 10 m long AluFlex 20/20/110 pipe surrounded by ground with a temperature of 8 C after 180 min of
idling (i.e. the initial temperature of the water is around 20 C, see
Fig. 1) when DHW tapping starts. In this paper, we assume that the
temperature of “new” DH water entering the SP during tapping or
bypassing is 50 C in all the cases simulated. This allows us to ignore
any temperature drop in the DH network before water is supplied
to the SP.
Fig. 2 shows that if the water in the SP has cooled to 20 C, the
transportation time for a flow rate of 17.3 L/min accounts for 6.1 s
(independent of temperature), but the water delivered to the HEX
at that time has already been cooled by the thermal capacity of the
pipe to 38.2 C. It takes another 2 s, i.e. 8 s in all, to deliver 45 C
water and around 32 s to deliver 49 C to the HEX. Fig. 2 also shows
the temperature development for an initial water temperature of
35 C and for 20 C with flows of 14.1 and 8.4 L/min.
The results presented show that during a summer morning
(when the SP is cooled almost to the temperature of the ground), it
2.2.3. Solutions reducing waiting time on the primary side
To decrease the time needed to supply “fresh” DH water to the
substation, a solution with an external bypass (see Fig. 3) is widely
used. In this case, the substation is equipped with a thermostatic
valve that keeps water in the SP at a certain temperature level by
“bypassing” a small amount of water directly back to the DH
network and thus reducing waiting time substantially. The setpoint temperature for the external bypass in LTDH is normally
between 35 C and 40 C as a compromise between insufficient
cooling of by-passed DH water and additional heat consumed by
the customer and reduced waiting time for DHW preparation. The
set-point temperature for traditional DH is higher.
Another way to reduce waiting time for DHW is an internal
bypass (see Fig. 3). In contrast to the external bypass, the bypassed
water flows through the HEX and keeps it warm. This looks like
a good solution for the customer, but since water returning to the
DH network has quite a high temperature, it is not desirable from
the perspective of the DH network and the customer may be
charged for insufficient cooling. This solution is not considered
a good solution for LTDH, so we do not elaborate more on it.
Fig. 2. Effect of the thermal capacity of an AluFlex 20/20/110 service pipe on the
temperature of water delivered after substation idling.
3. Methods
3.1. Experimental measurement of IHEU
3.1.1. Experimental setup and instruments
The IHEU is a type of district heating substation that consists of
a HEX without a storage tank. DHW is produced instantaneously in
the HEX only it is tapped. It is then supplied directly to DHW taps.
The IHEU was equipped with an external bypass and a PTC2þP
controller for DHW preparation. The PTC2þP is a flowcompensated temperature controller with integrated differential
pressure control [27]. The space heating system uses direct
connection without the heat exchanger. Compared to a traditional
IHEU, the low-temperature unit has a HEX (XB37H-40) using plates
with dimpled pattern which ensure optimal operation with a lower
supply temperature. The water volume on both the primary and
secondary sides was 1.1 L and the heat exchanger was not insulated.
The experiments carried out focused on the dynamic and static
performance of the substation in relation to DHW production, so no
space heating loop was connected and the space heating valves in
substation were closed. The temperature requirements for the
DHW prepared were in accordance with those specified in DS439.
We measured the temperature of four water flows passing through
the substation and the primary and secondary flow rates. On the
primary side, it was the temperature of the DH water supplied to
the substation (T11) and the temperature of the DH water returning
back to the DH network (T12), and on the secondary side, it was the
temperature of the cold water entering the substation (T21) and the
temperature of the DHW produced (T22). All temperatures were
measured by type T thermocouples installed directly in pipes, in the
water stream, so there is no practical time delay for the measurements. The time constant to reach 90% of step change was less than
1 s. The distance of thermocouples from the substation flanges was
5 cm and thermocouples were calibrated beforehand. We also
measured the air temperature in the testing room. Temperatures
were measured and collected by a multifunction acquisition unit
(Agilent 34970A) every second. The DH network with a constant
temperature of 50 C was simulated by the university DHW system,
which has a large enough capacity to supply 50 C continuously.
Moreover, a thermostatic fixture was used to keep the supply
396
Fig. 3. Various IHEU bypass strategies: left e no bypass; middle e external bypass (cold HEX); right e internal bypass (warm HEX).
temperature to the substation at 50 C. To prevent pipes supplying
DHW to laboratory cooling down in periods when there was no
flow through the substation, a small guard flow drained directly to
a sink just before the entrance to the substations was kept to
maintain DHW at a constant 50 C.
3.1.2. Experimental procedure
The DHW controller (PTC2þP) was adjusted to provide 47 C on
the DHW side with a supply temperature of DH water at 50 C. The
substation was left idle for a long time so that whole parts of the
unit including water in the HEX were at room temperature, i.e.
21.6 C. Then we opened a tap on the DHW side and measured the
substation recovery time needed to deliver DHW with a temperature of 40 C and 45 C at the substation’s outlet from the moment
when DHW tap was opened. The DHW water flow was 8.4 L/min,
i.e. a flow representing showering [25]. The results from
measurements are presented in Fig. 5 and are denoted “measured”.
All the measurements are described in detail in [16].
3.2. Numerical model for IHEUs
A numerical model of the substation was developed in the
commercially available software, Simulink [30]. The model is based
on work by Persson [31], where it is well described. The philosophy
of the modelling is fundamentally based on an energy balance
between the primary (hot) and secondary (cold) side including heat
transfer through the wall separating the two sides, described
together by Equations (1)e(3). This approach accounts some
simplifications: no heat conduction among the sections, negligible
heat resistance in the HEX walls and no heat losses to the
surroundings, but the influence on the accuracy is for our application negligible. Convective heat transfer coefficient a [W/(m2 K)]
is calculated based on the Equation (4) which is an empirical
equation from manufacturer of HEX. Nomenclature for the equations is listed in Table 3.
Fig. 4. Description of IHEUs numerical model with three sections.
Energy balance equation for cold medium
d
_ c ,cp;c , Tc;in Tc;out
mc ,cp;c ,Tc;out ¼ m
ds
Tc;in Tc;out
ac=w ,Ac ,
Tw
2
(1)
Equation (1) rearranged and written for HEX-section 1
d
1
_ c ,cp;c , Tc1;in Tc1;out
, m
Tc1;out ¼
ds
mc1 ,cp;c
Tc1;in Tc1;out
ac=w ,Ac ,
Tw1
2
(5)
Energy balance equation for hot medium
d _ h ,cp;h , Th;in Th;out
mh ,cp;h ,Th;out ¼ m
ds
Th;in Th;out
ah=w ,Ah ,
Tw
2
(2)
Energy balance equation for HEX plates
Th;in Th;out
d
mw ,cp;w ,Tw ¼ ah=w ,Ah ,
Tw
ds
2
Tc;in Tc;out
ac=w ,Ac ,
Tw
2
(3)
Fig. 5. Comparison of experimentally measured and numerically simulated temperatures T22 and T12 for an IHEU equipped with a PTC2þP controller for the same input
data.
Convective heat transfer coefficient a
a ¼ 0:2,lw = dp ,2 ,Re0:67 ,Pr0:4
(4)
Our model consists of three sections and each section consists of
cold and hot side and the wall (see Fig. 4). The three sections model
is considered to be enough accurate to model the performance of
the HEX [31]. The model does not consider heat losses to the
ambient, because our aim was to investigate the dynamic performance in the first few seconds. Each of three sections is described
by system of Equations (1)e(3) and by their rearranging to form of
Equation (5) the system can be solved in Simulink. Additional
information about numerical modelling of DH substations can be
also found in [32].
As a first step, we verified the HEX model we developed using
real measured data from an experiment and the results of design
software from the manufacturer [33]. The differences in outlet
temperatures for static performance, i.e. when all input values are
constant in time, were maximally 0.2 C. We considered this
sufficient accuracy since the model is aimed to be used as tool for
holistic evaluation rather than as an expert tool for the detailed
evaluation of substations.
As a second step, we modelled and added the PTC2þP controller
and ran tests under dynamic conditions. The numerical model of
the controller was built as a physical model of a real PTC2þP
controller, i.e. it includes equations describing all springs, kv values
of valves, etc. [29]. The model was verified again with real
measured data. Fig. 5 shows a comparison between experimentally
measured and numerically simulated output temperatures T22 and
T12. The numerical model (values are denoted “sim”) can be in the
dynamic build-up phase seen to be slightly faster than real
measurements, but for the static phase the differences are negligible. The difference is caused by the fact that the numerical model
does not include the exact dynamic heating of all components
(pipes and valves) in the substation through which the water
should pass before reaching the HEX; this causes the deviation
between the simulated and the measured values during the transient heating-up period.
The difference in results from simulation and measurement can
be also seen in Table 4 by comparing cases M and 0.
3.3. Realistic modelling of external bypass
Theoretically, an external bypass maintains a continuous flow
through the SP to keep the thermostatic valve at the desired constant
set-point temperature. The real solution is slightly different because
thermostatic valves have an on/off range (a so-called dead band) to
avoid stability problems. The dead band will mean that the bypass
flow will not be continuous but intermittent.
An external bypass was modelled with following parameters:
set-point temperature 35 C, dead band 2.5 C, and bypass flow
rate 3 L/min. The model assumes that the thermostatic valve is
Table 3
Nomenclature for energy balance equations e cold side.
Ac
cp,c
mc
_c
m
mw
Pr
Re
Tc,in
Tc,out
Tw
ac/w
dp
lw
Total plate area on the cold side in one section
Specific heat capacity of water
Mass of water in the section
Mass flow of water through the section
Total mass of plates in the section
Prandtl number
Reynolds number
Temperature of water coming into the section
Temperature of water leaving the section
Average wall temperature in the section
Convective heat transfer coefficient
Distance between individual HEX’s plates
Thermal conductivity of water
[m2]
[J/(kg K)]
[kg]
[kg/s]
[kg]
[e]
[e]
[ C]
[ C]
[ C]
[W/(m2 K)]
[m]
[W/(m K)]
397
Table 4
Recovery times for IHEU for all described cases, case 3e7 includes also influence of
service pipe.
Case
Description
Recovery time of IHEU [s] to
produce DHW
Without SP
M
Experimental measurement
0
Verification of num. model
1
Pure recovery time, T ¼ 50 C,
HEX20
2
Pure recovery time, T ¼ 50 C,
HEX40
With SP
3
Continual bypass 50 Ce35 C
4
Ext. bypass before 2nd bypass
flow
5
Ext. bypass before 3rd bypass
flow
6
Without bypass e 35 C
7
Without bypass e 20 C
30 C
35 C
40 C
42 C
45 C
4.1
4.6
3.7
6.0
6.3
4.9
9.1
8.6
6.5
10.8
10.0
7.3
15.8
13.1
9.4
4.1
5.5
7.4
5.7
5.9
7.7
8.7
10
11.0
11.3
12.4
14.1
15.5
7.2
9.5
11.9
13.2
16.4
7.2
11.0
9.8
12.7
12.3
15.2
13.6
16.7
16.9
20.9
8.55
10.9
controlled by the forward temperature at the end of the SP. In
reality, the thermostatic valve is controlled by the temperature
measured in the valve itself, which can be strongly affected by the
position of the valve in the substation and the insulation of the
substation. The results for external bypass performance were
obtained by a combination of Matlab code for the SP dynamics and
graphs of the cooling of DH water during idling. Both methods,
mentioned above in the Introduction, are fully reported by Dalla
Rosa [26,28]. The code simulating the water cooling is used to
calculate the temperature profile in the SP during idling. The result
is the time period (see Fig. 1) needed to cool the last control volume
of water in the SP down to temperature of 32.5 C (opening
temperature for the bypass). Then we fed the obtained temperature
profile along the SP to the code modelling the dynamic heat-up of
the SP, we set the flow to 3 L/min and got the time dependent
temperature at the SP outlet during bypass operation (see Fig. 2).
The flow of 3 L/min was kept until the temperature at the end of
SP reached 37.5 C (closing temperature for bypass). The result is
the new temperature profile in the SP. Next, we re-applied the
code modelling the cooling of the water standing in the SP and
repeated the whole procedure recursively until we got the
temperature profile in the SP after the desired number of
bypasses (see Fig. 6).
3.4. Modelling of continual bypass
In addition to a traditional bypass, we also modelled an “ideal
external bypass” with continuous flow, i.e. an external bypass
without a dead band. It is assumed that a continual bypass flow will
be possible used in a floor heating system in bathrooms and thus
increasing comfort for users and utilising energy which would
otherwise be lost [14]. The results for the temperature profile along
the SP were obtained by solving the differential Equation (6) [34]
applied for AluFlex 20/20/110 in Matlab [30].
M
M
Td ¼
þ Tu exp
K
K
L
K,V
(6)
where Td is the downstream fluid temperature [K], Tu is the
upstream temperature [K], L is the pipe
M ¼
1
vP
2f
Ta
½1 r,cT ,V, þ r, ,jVj,V 2 þ Ch ,
r,cp
vx
D
A
398
Fig. 6. Temperature profile along 10 m long SP AluFlex 20/20/110 for IHEU equipped with external bypass in traditional and continual operation modes. Traditional bypass: setpoint 35 C, dead band 2.5 C, bypass flow rate 3 L/min, Tground ¼ 14 C. Continual bypass: temperature drop 50e35 C, flow rate 0.024 L/min, Tground ¼ 14 C.
K ¼
1
c
, h
r,cp A
length [m], Ta is the ambient temperature [K], Ch is the overall heat
transfer coefficient (W/m/ C), Cp is the specific heat capacity at
constant pressure of the fluid [J/kg/K], CT is the specific heat
capacity at constant temperature of the fluid [J/kg/K], A is the cross
sectional area of pipe [m2]. V is the velocity [m/s], vP=vx is the
pressure gradient [N/m2/m], D is the hydraulic diameter [m], f is the
friction factor [e], and r is the density of fluid [kg/m3].
3.5. Definition of SP operational modes
To investigate the effect of various SP operation modes on the
recovery time of an IHEU equipped with a PTC2þP controller, we
defined the following cases:
Cases 1 and 2 represent the pure recovery time of the IHEU
cooled completely to an ambient temperature of 21.6 C. In these
cases, the DH water entering the substation is at a temperature of
50 C already, so there is no SP influence. These cases are not realistic in normal operation (supplied water will never be 50 C from
the very first moment), but they are valuable for comparison with
other types of substation. The difference between Cases 1 and 2 is
that the HEX has 20 plates in the former and 40 plates in the latter.
Case 3 is defined as a continual external bypass with a flow rate
of 0.024 L/min, which ensures an almost linear temperature drop in
the SP (see Fig. 6 e equation of linear regression) from 50 C at the
beginning to 35 C at the end of the SP.
Cases 4 and 5 represent a traditional bypass with a set-point
temperature of 35 C with a dead band of 2.5 C. The temperature profile along the SP in Case 4 is the situation just before the
2nd bypass flow and in Case 5 just before the 3rd bypass flow.
Cases 6 and 7 represent the SP without any kind of bypass. In
Case 6, the whole SP is at a temperature of 35 C and in Case 7 at
a temperature of 20 C. Respectively, these correspond to idling
periods of 1 and 4 h for an AluFlex 20/20/110 pipe buried in soil
with a temperature of 14 C.
As input data for our simulations, we used temperature profiles
along the SP (see Fig. 6) from Matlab simulations as described
above. All the simulations take the thermal capacity of the SP into
account.
4. Results and discussion
The results presented are valid for summer conditions when
there is no need for space heating and with a cold water temperature of 13.2 C. We are aware that during the winter the cold water
temperature will be lower, but the additional power needed for
increasing the lower water temperature is expected to be covered
by increased the supply temperature of DH.
The results of the experimental measurements and numerical
simulations for all the cases described are listed in Table 4, which
shows the recovery time for an IHEU equipped with a PTC2þP
controller to produce DHW with the desired temperature in relation to SP operation mode. For all simulations, except the verification of the model (Cases M and 0, where the primary flow was
14.1 L/min), we used a maximum primary flow rate of 17.3 L/min
defined in the IHEU by the differential pressure available (0.5 bar).
As shown above, the numerical model is sufficiently accurate, so
it can be used for the simulation of the recovery time in relation to
the various SP operation modes.
4.1. Pure recovery time of IHEU
Case 2 represents the pure recovery time of the substation,
excluding any SP effect and with an inlet temperature to the
substation of 50 C from time s ¼ 0. It can be seen that the
substation needs 7.4 s to produce DHW with a temperature of 40 C
and 10.9 s to produce DHW with a temperature of 45 C. In addition
to the recovery time, we also need to add the time needed for DHW
to reach a fixture and take some temperature drop in the feeding
pipe into account. These results are also valid for evaluation of
performance of DHSU units, because DH water is supplied from the
buffer tank almost immediately, which matches this situation.
IHEUs are normally produced with a HEX with 40 plates, but to
reduce the price of the unit, we simulated an IHEU with a 20-plate
HEX. Table 4 shows that the recovery time for the 20-plate HEX is
less than for a HEX with 40 plates, e.g. the difference is 1 s for 40 C.
The reason is that the volume of water in the HEX is reduced to one
half, so the transportation delay in the HEX is reduced and there is
a reduction in the thermal mass of the HEX. Moreover, reducing the
number of plates decreases the price of the HEX, because less
material is used. On the other hand, the average temperature of
primary water returning to the DH network during showering
(a DHW flow of 8.4 L/min) is slightly higher, i.e. 21.8 C instead
of 19.1 C. The pressure drop of the HEX at a nominal power of
32.3 kW and a supply temperature of 50 C increased from 3.1 kPa
on the primary to 2.6 kPa on the secondary side to 13.5 and
8.6 kPa, which are values in the desired range for the optimal
operation of the HEX. The low pressure drop for the HEX with 40
plates shows an unnecessary over-dimensioning of the HEX, but
ensures better cooling of DH water to 19 C instead of 22.3 C.
Pressure drop values were calculated by the software provided by
the HEX manufacturer [33].
4.2. External and continual bypass
Fig. 6 shows changes in temperature profiles along the SP for
cycles of external bypass operation during a summer day (ground
temperature 14 C, no space heating demand in the building). The
profiles are a combination of results from SP cooling from COMSOL
software (Fig. 1) and calculations of SP dynamics (Fig. 2). At the
beginning, the temperature in the whole SP is 50 C because DHW
tapping has just finished. Since there is no tapping during the next
82 min, water standing in the SP cools down to 32.5 C and this is
the opening temperature for external bypass (35 C-2.5). The
bypass flow starts to move cooled water in the SP towards the
substation until the temperature at thermostatic valve reaches
37.5 C (i.e. 35 C þ 2.5). At that moment, the temperature profile in
the SP is represented by the graph “after first bypass”. This
assumption is not fully realistic because the thermostatic valve has
some thermal capacity which will prolong the bypass flow period,
but from an engineering point of view this assumption is enough.
When the bypass flow stops, the substation idles again so that
water in the SP cools again until the end point of the SP reaches
a temperature of 32.5 C and the bypass flow starts again (the graph
“after 2nd cooling”). The last control volume in the SP cools from
37.5 C to 32.5 C in 35 min. Fig. 6 shows the temperature profiles
until the 4th cooling of the SP. It can be seen that after the 4th
cooling the temperature profile is similar to the temperature profile
after the 2nd cooling and the temperature profile after the 5th
cooling (not shown in the figure) is similar to the temperature
profile after the 3rd cooling. The temperature profiles after the 2nd
and following bypasses are also very similar, only the inflection
point is moved in horizontal direction, to the left (for odd number
of bypasses) or to the right (for even number of bypasses). The
temperature profiles after the 2nd and the 3rd cooling thus
represents the most and least favourable situations for the recovery
time of the substation. Finally, we have in this way obtained the
supply temperatures needed for the simulation of the effect of an
external bypass on the recovery time of the substation. All the
calculations take the thermal capacity of the SP into account.
In the case of ideal “continuous” bypass, the bypassed water in
the SP cools down continuously with an almost linear profile from
50 C at the beginning of the SP to 35 C at the entrance to the
substation. The flow needed to keep this temperature drop with
a ground temperature of 14 C is only 0.024 L/min.
4.3. The effect of the SP on IHEU recovery time
The recovery time of the IHEU depends strongly on the
temperature profile in the SP defined by its operation mode. The
399
longest recovery time is for the case when the SP is operated
without a bypass, i.e. the water standing during idling in the SP
simply cools down. In this case, the SP water can be in the range
between 50 C and 14 C (representing temperature of the ground).
Case 7 represents such a situation, when idling occurs for 4 h and
water in the SP cools down to 20 C. Case 6 is a similar situation,
except that idling occurs for only 1 h and water in the SP cools
down to 35 C. The recovery time of the substation to produce 40 C
DHW, allowing for the effect of the SP operation, is 15.2 and 13.6 s,
respectively. These results can be used for customers with very
short SPs or for customers with low requirements for comfort.
Shorter recovery times are achieved with the traditional external
bypass solution, which ensures that the entry-to-substation
temperature is always in the range of 32.5e37.5 C. The recovery
time to produce 40 C DHW is reduced to 11.9 or 11.0 s in Cases 3
and 4 depending on the phase of bypass when tapping was
started. The traditional external bypass solution was simulated as
an ideal operation without taking into account the thermal
inertia of the thermostatic valve and the effect of the ambient
conditions. In reality, the temperature sensor measures the water
temperature in the thermostatic valve and not at the end point of
the SP. It is expected that the real flow in an external bypass will
be higher than simulated and will occur for a longer time. Further
improvement in the reduction of recovery time can be achieved
by the implementation of a continual bypass, which ensures
a constant entry-to-substation temperature of 35 C, i.e. the
recovery time to produce 40 C DHW is reduced to 10 s. The
necessary flow of 0.024 L/min can be used for whole-year floor
heating in the bathroom and thus ensure an energy-efficient
bypass that prevents recirculation of DH water back to the return
pipe. In non-circular-shaped DH networks, the bypass should be
installed at least at the end of a street, and this solution is more
favourable for the DH network and customers than a traditional
bypass because it is expected to prevent the need for other types of
bypass to keep the DH network at the proper temperature level.
The effect of the “comfort bathroom” concept on whole DH
network has recently been studied in detail [14].
4.4. Waiting time for DHW
If the requirement is a maximum 10 s waiting time for DHW at
the least favourable fixture, i.e. in our case the wash basin (see
Table 2), DHW should leave the DH substation with a temperature
of 40 C within 8.4 s of the start of tapping, because it will take 1.6 s
to reach the tap. This requirement cannot be met in reality, because
if we take the effect of SP operation into account, even in the fastest
case (continual external bypass) the recovery time for 40 C DHW is
10 s. On the other hand, Table 4 shows that DHW with temperature
of 30 C leaves the substation within 5.7 s. DHW with this
temperature is not sufficient for taking a comfortable shower, for
which a temperature of 37 1 C is preferred, but should be enough
for washing hands. Customers requiring DHW in a very short time
whether continuously or discontinuously (only during rush hours)
can ensure almost no tap delay by keeping DHW in pipes at the
desired temperature using electric trace heating.
5. Conclusion
The paper describes state-of-the-art DH, i.e. LTDH. The first fullscale demonstration site at Lystrup in Denmark proved that the
LTDH concept is a promising solution for energy-efficient and
secure supply of low-energy buildings with heat harvested from
renewable sources of energy. DHW can be produced with
a temperature below 50 C with no increased risk of Legionella
because the whole DHW system is designed with an overall volume
400
below 3 L and is therefore excluded from traditional DHW
temperature requirements.
We have shown that a low-temperature IHEU is able to produce
DHW with a temperature of 46 C from DH water with a temperature of 50 C with good cooling and with a sufficiently short waiting
time. Although the recovery time for 45 C DHW is longer than the
suggested 10 s, the substation produces 35 C DHW in 5.5 s which
can be regarded as warm enough to start washing hands or
showering. Nevertheless, the recovery time could be further
decreased by optimizing the design of the HEX with an adequate
number of plates, pressure drop, and improved heat convection
transfer, all resulting in reduced thermal mass and therefore in
faster recovery time. Work on such a design is in progress.
The numerical model of an IHEU we developed was successfully
validated with real measurements and in combination with a model
of an SP was used for the evaluation of various SP operation modes in
relation to DHW comfort for customers and the overall economy of
LTDH.
The results show that IHEUs installed in a DH network should
be equipped with a bypass to keep the recovery time within
a range acceptable for users. Nevertheless, the use of a traditional
bypass with a set-point temperature of 35 C cannot guarantee
a short waiting time. The most efficient solution might be
a continual bypass always ensuring an entry-to-substation
temperature of 35 C during idling. The continual bypass flow
with a constant temperature can be used in floor-heating systems
in bathrooms and thus bring benefits for the customer as well as
for the network.
The numerical model of the IHEU is an important tool for the
further optimization of the whole LTDH concept and its individual
components. Moreover, it can be extended with a storage tank
module and then be used for the optimization of DHSUs.
The next step in our research will be the consideration of real
conditions in DH networks, i.e. dropping the assumption of 50 C DH
water at the beginning of the SP and using real temperature profiles,
which will be result of the simulation of a real DH network. Other
research should also focus on the introduction of the LTDH concept
in existing single-family and multi-storey buildings, because these
buildings represent the majority of the building stock.
Heat Plan Denmark 2008 concluded that DH is the main solution
to achieve fossil-free heat supply in Denmark by 2050 with regard
to energy efficiency, economy and environment. But to make this
happen, DH must be transformed into LTDH. More research and
improvements are still needed to achieve the strong position of
LTDH predicted for the future, but we now have the first show-case
example of Low-Temperature District Heating and the main task
has become its implementation on the large scale.
References
[1] Froning S. Low energy communities with district heating and cooling, 25th
conference on passive and low energy architecture; 2008. Dublin.
[2] Aalborg University and Ramboll. Heat plan Denmark, http://www.energymap.
dk/Profiles/Ramboll/Projects/Heat-Plan-Denmark; 2008.
[3] Lund H, Möller B, Mathiesen BV, Dyrelund A. The role of district heating in
future renewable energy systems. Energy 2010;35:1381e90.
[4] Dalla Rosa A, Chistensen JE. Low-energy district heating in energy-efficient
building areas. Energy 2011;36:6890e9.
[5] The directive 2010/31/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19
May 2010 on the energy performance of buildings. Official Journal of the
European Union 2010;53.
[6] Marszal AJ, Heiselberg P, Bourrelle JS, Musall E, Voss K, Sartori I, et al. Zero
energy building e a review of definitions and calculations. Energy and
Buildings 2011;43:971e9.
[7] The Danish building regulations 2008; 2008 [in Danish].
[8] The Danish building regulations 2010. Available online (February 2012) at:
http://www.ebst.dk/bygningsreglementet.dk; 2010 [in Danish].
[9] Persson U, Werner S. Heat distribution and the future competitiveness of
district heating. Applied Energy 2011;88(3):568e76.
[10] Final report EFP 2007: Development and Demonstration of Low-energy
District Heating for Low-energy buildings (Hovedrapport EFP 2007: “Udvikling og Demonstration af Lavenergifjernvarme til Lavenergibyggeri), in
Danish, 2009, available at (February 2012): http://www.fvu-center.dk/sites/
default/files/udvikling_og_demonstration_af_lavenergifjernvarme_til_
lavenergibyggeri.pdf.
[11] Drake Landing Solar Community, www.dlsc.ca.
[12] Tol HI, Svendsen S. Improving the dimensioning of piping networks and network
layouts in low-energy district heating systems connected to low-energy buildings: a case study in Roskilde, Denmark. Energy 2012;38(1):276e90.
[13] Schmidt D. Low exergy systems for high-performance buildings and
communities. Energy and Buildings 2009;41:331e6.
[14] Final report EUDP 2008 e II: CO2-reductions in low energy buildings and
communities by implementation of low temperature district heating systems.
Demonstration cases in Boligforeningen Ringgården and EnergyFlexHouse
(partly in Danish), 2011, available at (February 2012): http://www.byg.dtu.dk/
Publikationer/Byg_rapporter.aspx.
[15] Technical documentation for AluFlex pipes. www.logstor.com. Available
online (February 2012).
[16] Brand M, Thorsen JE, Svendsen S, Christiansen CH. A Direct Heat Exchanger
Unit used for Domestic Hot Water supply in a single-family house supplied by
Low Energy District Heating, Published at the 12th International Symposium
on District Heating and Cooling, 5e7 September 2010, Tallinn, ESTONIA, in
September 2010 available on: http://www.dhc12.ttu.ee.
[17] Paulsen O, Fan J, Furbo S, Thorsen JE. “Consumer Unit for Low Energy District
Heating Net”, Published at the 11th International Symposium on District
Heating and Cooling, August 31 to September 2, 2008, Reykjavik, Iceland.
[18] EUROHEAT & POWER, “Guidelines for District Heating Substations”, 2008,
downloaded from www.euroheat.org in October 2009, p. 8 & p. 12.
[19] Liu Z, Lin YE, Stout JE, Hwang CC, Vidic RD, Yu LJ. Effect of flow regimes on the
presence of Legionella within the biofilm of a model plumbing system. Journal
of Applied Microbiology 2006;101:437e42.
[20] Martinelli F, Caruso A, Moschini L, Turano A, Scarella C, Speziani F. “A
comparison of Legionella Pneumophila occurrence in hot water tanks and
instantaneous devices in domestic, nosocomial, and community environments”. Current Microbiology 2000;41:374e6.
[21] Mathys W, Stanke J, Harmuth M, Junge-Mathys E. “Occurrence of Legionella in
hot water systems of single-family residences in suburbs of two German cities
with special reference to solar and district heating”. International Journal of
Hygiene and Environmental Health 2008;211:179e85.
[22] DVGW. W551 e Trinkwassererwärmungs- und Trinkwasserleitungsanlagen;
1993. Bonn, [in German].
[23] Kristjansson H. “Distribution Systems in Apartment Buildings”, Published at
the 11th International Symposium on District Heating and Cooling, August 31
to September 2, 2008, Reykjavik, Iceland.
Paper IV e Temperature levels in domestic hot water systems and growth of
Legionella”, Doctoral Thesis, Lund Institute of Technology, Lund, 2005.
[25] Dansk Standard. DS 439 code of practice for domestic water supply installations; 2009.
[26] Dalla Rosa A, Li H, Svendsen S. Method for optimal design of pipes for lowenergy district heating with focus on heat losses. Energy 2011;36:2407e18.
[27] Boysen H, Thorsen JE, Control Concepts for DH Compact Stations, Published in
Euroheat and Power IIII 2004.
[28] Dalla Rosa A, Li H, Svendsen S, Modelling transient heat transfer in small-size
twin pipes for end-user connections to low-energy district heating networks,
Heat Transfer Engineering, article accepted in February 2010.
[29] PTC2þP datasheet, Danfoss - Redan International Business to Business (B2B)
Documentation.
[30] MATLAB and SIMULINKÒ; Version R2010a, www.matlab.com.
Chapter 6 e Modelling of Components in a District Heating System, Doctoral
thesis, Lund Institute of Technology, Lund, 2005.
[32] Yang L. District Heating House Stations with Hot Water Storage. PhD thesis,
Centre for District Heating and Air Conditioning, Technical University of
Denmark, 1994.
[33] Danfoss Hex Calculation Software, downloaded 8/2011 from www.Danfoss.
com.
[34] Termis software, vers. 2.10, www.7t.dk.
Appendix II
ISI paper II
Brand M, Dalla Rosa A, Svendsen S
in Energy 2014, vol. 67, p. 256-267.
II
Energy 67 (2014) 256e267
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Energy
Energy-efficient and cost-effective in-house substations bypass for
improving thermal and DHW (domestic hot water) comfort in
bathrooms in low-energy buildings supplied by low-temperature
district heating
Marek Brand*, Alessandro Dalla Rosa, Svend Svendsen
a b s t r a c t
Article history:
Received 12 August 2013
16 January 2014
Accepted 18 January 2014
Available online 28 February 2014
Using a bypass to redirect a small flow through the in-house DH (district heating) substation directly to
the return pipe is a commonly used but energy-inefficient solution to keep the DH network “warm”
during non-heating seasons. Instead, this water can be redirected to the bathroom FH (floor heating) to
cool down further and thus reduce the heat lost from bypass operation while tempering the bathroom
floor and guaranteeing fast provision of DHW (domestic hot water). We used the commercial software
IDA-ICE to model a reference building where we implemented various solutions for controlling the
redirected bypass flow and evaluated their performance. The effect on the DH network was investigated
using Termis software. Bypass flow redirected into bathroom FH during the non-heating period resulted
in comparison to the reference case on average in a 0.6 Ce2.2 C increase of the floor surface temperature and additional cooling of bypass water by 3.9 C, reducing the heat loss from the DH network by
13% and covering 40% of the heat used in the bathroom FH. The use of the bypass flow in bathroom FH is
a cost-effective solution exploiting the heat that would otherwise be lost in the DH network to improve
comfort for customers at discounted price.
Keywords:
Efficient external bypass
Low-temperature district heating
Floor heating
DHW (domestic hot water) waiting time
Network heat loss reduction
IDA-ICE
1. Introduction
The heat demand in buildings drops outside the heating season
because the only heating requirement users usually have is in
connection with DHW (domestic hot water). This is very discontinuous and is generally needed for a total of less than 1 h/day in a
typical single-family home [1]. The lack of heat load causes the
undesirable cooling of some parts of the network to temperatures
that are insufficient to ensure the prompt provision of DHW
through the IHE (instantaneous heat exchanger) substations. If
proper control strategies are not implemented, the time needed for
low-temperature IHE substations to produce DHW with a temperature of 40 C can increase by 40% up to 15 s [2]. That is why
bypass valves are installed at in-house substations (see Fig. 1) and/
or other suitable locations in the network. Their purpose is to
redirect a relatively low water flow from the supply media pipe to
E-mail addresses: marek@byg.dtu.dk (M. Brand), ss@byg.dtu.dk (S. Svendsen).
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2014.01.064
0360-5442/Ó 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
the return media pipe, so that the temperature at the DH (district
heating) substation inlet is maintained within the required range of
operation. The effect of the bypass is a certain flow achieved during
low heat load periods, ensuring sufficient supply temperatures in
the network. For example, in the low-temperature DH (district
heating) pilot project in Lystrup [3], the set-point temperature for
the external bypass is 35 C.
This operation, although necessary, results in increased heat
losses and higher return temperatures in the DH network, and this
is particularly critical in the case of low-energy demand building
areas. The share of heat losses due to the bypass operation can
reach up to 55% of the heat demand (i.e. for heating DHW) of lowenergy buildings outside the heating season. Moreover, in lowenergy buildings, the heating season is shorter than in traditional
buildings, so this means the bypass is needed for a longer period.
Furthermore, even during the heating period there are sunny days
when space-heating is not required (for our reference case, as much
as 6%). All this underlines the need for an energy-efficient bypass
solution. In recent years, R&D and demonstration studies on lowtemperature DH systems for energy-efficient buildings have
List of abbreviations and symbols
ṁ
mass flow, [kg/h]
Tbypass
bypass set-point temperature, [ C]
Tfloor
floor surface temperature, [ C]
Top
operative temperature, [ C]
Tret
return temperature, [ C]
Tsoil
temperature of soil, [ C]
DTDB
deadband, [ C]
CB
comfort bathroom
DH
district heating
DHW
domestic hot water
FH
floor heating
FJVR
TRV controlled by the fluid temperature
HEX
heat exchanger
IHE substation instantaneous heat exchanger substation
SH
space heating
SUB
DH in-house substation
TRV
thermostatic regulation valve
shown that the concept fits the vision of a sustainable building
sector in Denmark, by integrating end-user energy savings, energyefficient distribution networks, and low-grade sources and
renewable energy on the supply side [1e9]. This paper deals with
the modelling of bypass operation strategies in DH service pipes
supplying low-energy buildings and the option of using the redirected water in bathroom FH (floor heating) to increase thermal
comfort for customers. The effect of the bypass operation at the
level of the DH distribution network is also reported.
2. Traditional external bypass in an in-house substation
The traditional bypass solution is widely used, but there is still a
lack of precise knowledge on bypass performance, i.e. how much
energy/water is sent back to the DH network, how often the bypass
opens, and for how long. To evaluate the performance of the
traditional external bypass, we modelled and measured a traditional external bypass embedded in an instantaneous lowtemperature DH substation.
257
Our investigations compared the energy performance of two
bypass operations. The first case is the theoretical situation with an
“ideal” thermostatic valve without a deadband (DTDB ¼ 0) where
there is a continuous bypass flow through the service pipe to
maintain Tbypass,set at the service pipe outlet (the inlet to the inhouse substation), where the bypass control is assumed to be
located. The second case is a realistic “pulse” bypass operation
(caused by the deadband of the self-acting controller) modelled as
controller that is acting like an on/off switch. This means that when
the temperature of bypass water at the outlet of the service pipe
reaches a specific value, Tbypass,top, the bypass flow instantaneously
stops; the pipe is now in “stand-by” mode, meaning that there is no
flow in the media pipe, and the water gradually cools down; after a
certain time, the temperature at the service pipe outlet has
decreased to the value of Tbypass, bottom, the bypass valve opens, and
the water flows again. A pulse bypass cycle consists of a period of
water flow from the main distribution line to the service pipe
(called the “bypass” period), and a period when there is no flow and
the water inside the supply service pipe cools down (the “stand-by”
period); after that, another cycle starts, in a process that can be
modelled as periodical [2]. The MatlabÒ code modelling the DH
service pipes developed in Refs. [7,8], was applied to study the
transient, coupled fluid-thermal phenomena during the bypass
mode; the cooling of the water during the stand-by period was
evaluated using regression curves derived from 2-D transient heat
transfer simulations in COMSOL MultiphysicsÒ, see Fig. 2. Given the
geometry and the materials of the service pipe, a specific supply
water temperature, and certain boundary conditions, it is possible
to calculate the transient temperature field in the pipe, see Fig. 3.
The model of the DH pipes in the heat transfer simulations was
built in accordance with the methodology explained in Ref. [9].
We modelled both ideal and pulse bypass operation with code
developed in Ref. [8]. The numerical code used was successfully
verified for dynamic calculation in the service pipe, but first
without the effect of the thermostatic bypass valve because it
would be very difficult to make this test in laboratory conditions.
We subsequently carried out full-scale measurements of pulse
bypass at a low-temperature DH substation connected to the DH
network at the Danish Technological Institute, but even using DH
energy metres with the highest available flow resolution (signalling
every measured litre), the highly dynamic performance of the pulse
bypass involves volumes below this resolution, so the results were
2.1. Modelling of bypass flow in service pipes
The bypass is generally controlled by a thermostat with an
adjusted set-point temperature, Tbypass,set and the amplitude of the
“deadband”, DTDB, which also defines a “top temperature”,
Tbypass,top ¼ Tbypass,set þ DTDB/2, and a bottom temperature, Tbypass,
bottom ¼ Tbypass,set DTDB/2. The bypass control ensures that the
temperature is kept within the range of operation set by the
deadband.
DH substation
DHW HEX
external bypass
T
road
DH service pipe (Twin pipe)
Fig. 1. Principle of bypass valve installed at in-house DH substation.
Fig. 2. Examples of cooling-off curves derived from 2D transient heat transfer simulations. Tsoil ¼ 8 C. Service pipe: Aluflex 20-20/110.
258
e.g. for FH in rooms where it is desirable to have a warm floor even
outside the normal heating season, as can be the case with bathrooms in buildings situated in Scandinavian climate regions. This
option is described and investigated in the following paragraphs as
the “comfort bathroom” concept.
3. The “comfort bathroom” concept
Fig. 3. Cooling of the supply media pipe in the service pipe during the stand-by period.
At s ¼ 0 s: Tsoil ¼ 8 C, TPUR ¼ 15 C, Treturn ¼ 20 C. Service pipe: Aluflex 20-20/110 e
the numbers referring to the diameters of the supply pipe, the return pipe, and the
casing of the twin pipe.
could not be used and the pulse operation of the thermostatic
bypass was not documented.
The DH supply temperature expected at the beginning of the
service pipe in the non-heating season during periods without
DHW tapping will differ based on the location in the DH network.
The further down the DH network the house is situated, the lower
the temperature at the inlet to service pipe. To reflect this phenomena we modelled both types of bypass operation at three locations in the DH network (see Fig. 10), specified by the inlet
temperature to the service pipe 50 C, 40 C and 37.3 C. The individual locations can be seen as the users being situated in close,
middle and far distances from the DH heat source. The service pipe
in the investigation was always considered as 10 m long twin pipe
Aluflex 20/20/110 (i.e. media pipe inner Ø ¼ 16 mm, casing pipe
outside Ø ¼ 110 mm) [10], surrounded by soil with temperature
8 C. This is a typical connection between the IHE substation and
the single-family house.
The continuous flow needed in the case of ideal bypass operation to keep the end of the service pipe at 35 C for each location
depends on the temperature at the beginning of the service pipe: if
this temperature was 50 C, 40 C or 37.3 C, it was calculated to
1.77 kg/h, 4.68 kg/h and 9.36 kg/h, respectively. Pulse bypass
operation was modelled with a set-point temperature of 35 C, a
deadband of 3 C and a bypass flow of 0.5 kg/min only for locations
with a continuous flow of 1.77 kg/h and 4.68 kg/h. The results show
that the pulse (intermittent) bypass in both locations operates
repeatedly approximately every 15 min. For the first location, the
bypass opens approximately 70 s in each cycle and bypasses
0.65 kg, which corresponds to 2.6 kg/h. For the second location, the
bypass opens approximately for 213 s and bypasses roughly 1.8 kg,
i.e. 7.1 kg/h.
Comparing the results, it can be concluded that keeping the inlet
of the substation at 35 C, the pulse bypass operation circulates
approximately 50% more water than the continuous bypass. The
higher bypass flow with pulse operation results in 10e35% higher
heat loss from service pipes than with the continual flow. Based on
this, it would be beneficial to replace the traditional thermostatic
bypass using pulse operation with a solution that keeps the flow
constant, e.g. bypass realised by using a small needle valve. However, this consideration does not take DHW tapping into account,
which is very important as explained later in Section 3.2.2.
To improve the energy efficiency of the DH network, it might
therefore be interesting to use the energy delivered by the bypass
The CB (comfort bathroom) is a concept of redirecting insufficiently cooled DH water from the external bypass of an in-house
substation to the bathroom FH during a non-heating period. The
outcome is additional cooling of the bypassed water, resulting in a
reduction of heat loss from the DH network, higher efficiency of DH
heat sources, and the sensation of a warm floor for occupants,
increasing their comfort. In the case of our reference house
(described later in Section 3.2.2), the average floor surface temperature in the bathroom during non-heating period is only 22.4 C.
Based on Ref. [11], the floor surface temperature preferred in
bathrooms is 28 0.3 C, and this justifies the option of increasing
floor surface temperature comfort in the bathroom.
It is true that a similar effect can be achieved by an FH loop
controlled with a traditional TRV (thermostatic regulation valve)
[12] (thermostatic valve controlled by indoor operative temperature) modified for use in FH loop or an FJVR (TRV controlled by the
fluid temperature) valve [13] (thermostatic valve controlled by
temperature of fluid), but in comparison CB utilises only the “free”
energy available from DH water bypassed anyway through the
external bypass. The CB concept is therefore not meant to give the
same level of comfort during non-heating season as FH controlled
by TRV or FJVR, but to utilise part of the heat from bypass operation
being otherwise lost in the DH network to heat up the floor in
bathrooms at discounted price.
3.1. Technical solutions for CB
FH in the bathroom can be controlled either by an FJVR valve, or
by a TRV with self-acting thermostatic sensor (e.g. Refs. [12,13]) or
by an electronic actuator (e.g. Ref. [14]) with wired/wireless remote
temperature sensor (not shown in Fig. 4). The first two solutions are
usual in houses heated by radiators with FH installed only in the
bathroom, while for buildings with all rooms heated by FH, every
FH loop usually has own control valve with remote temperature
sensor.
Fig. 4 shows the implementation of the CB concept with various
types of space heating (SH). For this purpose, SH systems can be
divided into those with the option of changing the supply temperature to the FH loop (directly connected SH with mixing loop or
indirect SH systems) and those without (directly connected SH
without mixing loop).
Reference case without CB. Fig. 4a shows the original connection
scheme of the SH system used in the low-temperature DH showcase in Lystrup, where we plan to test the CB concept in full scale as
part of the EUDP 2010 research project [3]. One goal of the designer
was obviously to make a simple and cheap solution, with directly
connected radiators, FH in the bathroom and no mixing loop (i.e.
the SH system is supplied with 50 C also during moderate outdoor
temperatures). The FH is controlled by an FJVR valve [13] mounted
on the return pipe from the FH loop. The FJVR valve is situated in
the technical room, just before the manifold collecting individual
SH loops. The substation is kept “ready for use” by the thermostatic
external bypass (also an FJVR valve, with a set-point of 35 C)
redirecting bypassed water back to the DH return. This SH design is
simple and widespread, so CB solution designed for this setup could
have high potential for realisation.
259
Fig. 4. Technical solution for CB implementation. Direct SH system without mixing loop: a) reference case without CB, with traditional external bypass; b) CB realised with a needle
valve (installed in parallel to TRV valve on supply pipe or in parallel to FJVR valve on the return pipe of FH loop); c) CB realised with a FJVR bypass valve. Direct SH system with mixing
loop: d) CB realised with a FJVR bypass valve; e) CB realised with a needle valve and capillary tube. Indirect SH system: f) CB realised with FJVR bypass valve and needle valve.
3.1.1. SH systems without mixing loop
3.1.1.1. CB realised with a needle valve. The solution with a needle
valve was investigated on the basis of results of previous work [15]
reporting lower heat loss from the service pipes using continuous
bypass flow than using an FJVR valve with a deadband. CB is realised
by installing a needle valve on the return pipe of FH in parallel with
the existing FJVR valve (see Fig. 4b) keeping the constant bypass flow
through the bathroom FH or by installing a needle valve on the
supply pipe in parallel with the existing TRV valve. The external
bypass valve located in the substation is removed. The needle valve
is placed in the loop of the differential pressure controller, so the
flow remains constant also during oscillations of differential pressure in the DH network. For periods when the bypass flow through
the needle valve is not enough to heat the bathroom, the additional
flow can pass through the originally installed FJVR or TRV valve. The
advantage of this solution is the simple and cheap installation of the
needle valve in the substation, (i.e. no need to take any action in the
FH loop). The drawback of the solution is the lack of an “automatic
stop” of the bypass flow when the supply temperature is above setpoint temperature (i.e. 35 C), happening during non-heating period
after every DHW tapping and filling the service pipe with 50 C
warm DH water. This means that the CB will be supplied with water
with a temperature above 35 C for about 45 min after DHW tapping,
resulting in higher energy use possibly leading to overheating and
also higher return temperature, which is undesirable.
3.1.1.2. CB realised with an FJVR. In FH loops controlled by TRV
valves, it is possible to prevent the supply of bypass water with a
temperature above the bypass set-point by replacing the needle
valve with an FJVR valve as an external bypass installed in parallel
with the TRV valve (see Fig. 4c). The FJVR as an external bypass
valve redirects a small DH flow to the bathroom FH, but when the
temperature of this water increases above the bypass set-point, the
valve closes. This situation occurs during the non-heating period
after each DHW tapping, but it also means that the CB flow through
the bypass valve will automatically shut off during a heating period.
However, CB realised using an FJVR valve is applicable only in FH
loops controlled by a TRV valve, because the FJVR valve in function
of the bypass flow controller must be installed before the FH loop.
The location of the FJVR valve controlling the bypass flow depends on the location of the TRV valve. For bathroom FH loops with
an electronic actuator controlled remotely by the bathroom operative temperature and located in the substation (not shown in
Fig. 4c), the FJVR valve is installed in the substation in parallel with
the TRV valve. However the TRV valve should be relocated from its
usual position at the return pipe of the FH loop (collecting manifold) to the supply pipe of FH loop (just after the splitting manifold).
For the FH loop controlled by a traditional TRV valve located in
the bathroom, the FJVR valve can be installed either in the bathroom or in the substation. Installing the FJVR valve in the substation
needs additional supply pipe between the substation and bathroom. The pipe should be properly insulated (e.g. Twin pipe - two
media pipes embedded in one casing pipe e as used for the service
pipe connections) to limit the heat loss from the pipes as much as
possible. In this case, the set-point temperature of the FJVR is very
close to the desired standby temperature because the FJVR valve is
installed directly in the substation. The alternative solution
(without needing additional pipe) is to place the FJVR valve directly
in the bathroom, but then the temperature drop of the bypassed
water before reaching the FJVR valve is influenced by conditions in
the house, resulting in non-optimal performance.
It should be mentioned that the use of a traditional FJVR valve
with a deadband (and thus pulse operation) instead of a needle valve
would prevent the supply of extra heat after DHW tapping, but on
the other hand it will eliminate the advantages of reduced flow/heat
loss achieved by a needle valve as discussed in Section 2.1.
260
3.1.2. SH systems with mixing loop (direct SH) or heat exchanger
(indirect SH)
Fig. 4def shows the implementation of CB in the substations
which can control the supply temperature SH system. CB for
directly connected systems with a mixing loop is realised by
“bypassing” the main SH control valve. In the case of FH controlled
by a TRV valve (see Fig. 4d), the bypass flow passes through an FJVR
valve and is returned to the original FH pipe just after the TRV valve.
In the case of an FH loop controlled by an FJVR valve (see Fig. 4e) the
needle valve is installed in parallel and the main SH control valve is
bypassed with a capillary tube. An alternative solution could be to
use a main SH control valve (electronic step valve) as a bypass valve
to keep the substation on the standby temperature, but the question is: Can the valve and the circulation pump control such a small
flow and is the valve fast enough to close in the case of DHW tapping to prevent the supply of 50 C DH water into the FH loop?
Fig. 4f shows the implementation of CB for indirect SH systems
realised by bypassing the main SH control valve with an FJVR valve,
however the main SH control valve should be located before the SH
HEX (heat exchanger). The main SH control valve is in fact usually
situated at the return pipe of the HEX, i.e. in the position defined
historically by the need to protect the control valves from high
supply temperatures, which is not necessary from the perspective
of low-temperature DH. The change needed on the secondary side
(the in-house SH system) is the additional installation of a needle
valve in parallel with the FJVR or TRV valve. In this case, the SH HEX
is kept continuously at bypass standby temperature, but this is not
seen as a problem, because the HEX is expected to be insulated.
3.2. Modelling of CB
3.2.1. Reference house
The CB was modelled in a 157 m2 single-family house fulfilling
the requirements of low energy class 2015 in accordance with the
Danish BR10 (Building Regulation 2010) [16]. This means that the
energy needed for SH, DHW heating and the operation of HVAC
systems should be below 37 kWh/(m2.a) after accounting for primary energy factors. The house is described in more detail in Ref.
[17]. The house has two bathrooms (8.3 and 4.3 m2) and the CB
concept was implemented in both of them. The software used for
the simulations was advanced level of IDA-ICE 4.2 [18] and the
weather file DRY (design reference year) for Denmark was applied.
In accordance with BR10, the ventilation system is designed to
supply 216 m3/h and the heat recovery has 85% efficiency, accounting for a drop in efficiency for very cold outside temperatures.
The windows in the house are shaded with external blinds (g value
of 0.14) drawn when the solar irradiation on the window increases
above 300 W/m2. Moreover, the windows are shaded by a 0.5 m
roof-overhang. Venting by opening of the windows starts when the
air temperature in the room rises above 24 C and stops when the
air temperature drops below 22 C. The windows cannot be opened
when the occupants are not at home, i.e. working days between 8
am and 3 pm. The internal heat gains in the whole house were
modelled as 5 W/m2 constantly, but the heat gains from both
bathrooms were transferred to the living room and kitchen,
because based on [19] the internal heat gains produced in the
bathrooms are negligible. The operative temperature in the house
in all rooms is always below 26 C, so the house fulfils BR10 [16]
requirements limiting the number of hours with an operative
temperature above 26 C to less than 100 h a year.
3.2.2. Needle valve and FJVR bypass valve
As mentioned above, from the on-site measurements we could
not confirm whether the FJVR valve operates in continuous or pulse
mode because of the low resolution of flow metres. So we modelled
FJVR valve in both pulse and continuous operation and investigated
its importance for the performance of FH. We did this at two
different locations in the DH network defined with continuous flow
1.77 and 4.68 kg/h as described in Section 2.1.
CB supplied with a continuous flow of 1.77 kg/h was modelled
first with the needle valve, which is unable to stop the bypass flow
when the temperature is increased by DHW tapping, and then with
an FJVR valve blocking the bypass flow during and for 45 min after
every DHW tapping. The FJVR valve was modelled in three modifications. First the FJVR valve was considered as an ideal controller
with no deadband, providing continuous bypass flow in the same
magnitude as the needle valve. Second, the FJVR valve was still
considered as an ideal controller with no deadband, but this time
with operation in pulse mode. Finally we considered a realistic FJVR
valve with a 3 C deadband, resulting in pulse operation and an
increase of bypassed volume of roughly 50%, i.e. 2.6 kg/h. The same
cases were modelled also for a second location in the network, but
with the basic continuous flow of 4.68 kg/h, i.e. 7.1 kg/h when
considering the 50% increase of bypassed volume.
Fig. 5 compares the floor surface temperature Tfloor and the
temperature of water returning from CB Tret for bigger bathroom
with installed CB solution for all four modelled cases, in both
investigated locations in the DH network. For the sake of comparison, the floor surface temperature for the bigger bathroom, but
without CB concept, is also shown. The values in Fig. 5 are reported
in time steps of 3.6 s. The cases can be divided into three groups.
First, the reference case without CB (no markers), second the case
defined as continuous flow of 1.77 kg/h (lower half of the figure),
and third the case with continuous flow of 4.68 kg/h (upper half of
the figure).
It can be seen that for the case of 1.77 kg/h the maximal difference in Tfloor (see Fig. 5a) for all four control strategies (one with a
needle valve and three with an FJVR valve) is 0.25 C. The difference
increases maximally to 0.5 C for the case of 4.68 kg/h and the
maximum differences in Tret (see Fig. 5b) are 0.3 C and 0.7 C,
respectively. Moreover, the curve of Tret also documents difference
between the FJVR valve with the ability to stop the bypass flow
when the temperature of bypassed water increases above the
desired set-point and the needle valve missing this feature. While
the Tret for CB realised with needle valve increases slightly after
each DHW tapping (see Fig. 5b e triangle markers, DHW tapping
performed at time h ¼ 4488), the Tret for all cases realised with FJVR
valves decreases because the flow to the bathroom is stopped
during and for 45 min after the DHW tapping. Comparing pulse and
continuous flow of bypassed water, the pulse operation of the FJVR
valve (caused by the deadband) can be seen as an increase of Tret
every 15 min (square markers). Nevertheless the Tfloor and Tret are
comparable with the case of ideal FJVR valve (circle markers)
modelled without the deadband as the continuous flow. Increase of
the bypass flow by 50% (diamond markers) follows the same
pattern and increases the Tfloor and Tret accordingly.
Based on Fig. 5, it can be concluded that the difference in performance of the FJVR valve modelled with continuous flow or pulse
flow is negligible and the total mass flow and the ability to block
bypass water with a temperature above 35 C (missing in the case
of needle valve), is more important. Pulse operation of the FJVR
valve makes no noticeable changes in Tfloor, because the heat
delivered in pulses is averaged by the thermal mass of FH. The
difference in weighted averaged Tret is also negligible.
This finding allows us to model the FJVR valve with continuous
flow, no matter if the bypass flow is in reality pulse or continuous.
Modelling the valve with continuous flow furthermore saves
computational time because the simulation of pulse bypass needs
time steps small enough to catch the nature of intermittent bypass
(around 30 s) while in some situations time steps for other heat
261
Fig. 5. Comparison of: a) Tfloor and b) Tret in CB for two locations in the DH network modelled with four different control strategies of bypass flow, output for results in steps of 3.6 s.
transfer phenomena in buildings can be increased to steps ranged
in hours. Moreover, output data reported every 30 s makes it very
difficult to analyse results because of huge amount of data.
3.2.3. Specification of modelled cases
The usual set-point temperature of external bypass valves
installed in low-temperature DH substations with the instantaneous principle of DHW preparation is 35 C [5]. Nevertheless, the
assumption of CB supplied during the non-heating period
constantly with bypass flow of 35 C is a considerable simplification
and does not reflect the influence of DHW tapping. During each
DHW tapping, the temperature of DH water at the inlet of the
substation increases to 50 C (the supply media pipe is filled with
hot water at 50 C). It takes approx. 45 min for water standing in the
service pipe to cool back down to 35 C [2]. Moreover, during the
heating season, the DH substation is supplied with DH water with
temperatures of 50 C or higher (peaking in very cold winters)
continuously. So the DH supply temperature to the substation can
be considered to be 50 C during a heating period and for the rest of
the year (the non-heating period) to reflect the effect of DHW
tapping. We assume a 5-min period of DHW tapping every 3 h
(daily between 6:00-24:00), which means that the temperature in
the service pipe is 50 C for 5 min during DHW tapping and then
drops linearly for 45 min to 35 C. This means that while in the case
of CB realised with an FJVR valve, the valve stops the supply of FH
when the temperature of the bypass water is above 35 C, in the
case of CB realised with a needle valve and in the reference case
with an FH loop controlled by an FJVR valve (installed on the return
pipe of the FH loop), the FH loop is supplied by bypass water linearly decreasing from 50 C to 35 C for a period of 45 min.
As described in Section 2.1, we investigated three different locations in the DH network, resulting in three different bypass flows.
The cases investigated are listed in Table 1 and described below in
detail.
Case 1 e FH whole year: Case 1 is a reference case without
implementation of CB, but the FH is on duty the whole year. The DH
substation is equipped with a traditional external bypass. FH loops
in both bathrooms are equipped with an FJVR valve at the return
pipe (one valve for each), controlling the mass flow to keep the
return water from each loop at the set-point temperature of 25 C. If
the total flow rate is not enough to keep the inlet temperature to
the substation at 35 C, the traditional external bypass opens to
keep the inlet temperature to the substation at 35 C. On the other
hand, the flow needed in both bathrooms during the non-heating
period can be higher than the minimal bypass flow, resulting in
temperatures above 35 C at the inlet of the substation. The temperature of the DH water supplied by the service pipe during the
non-heating period in this case changes as a function of the flow
rate. The relationship between flow and temperature supplied by a
service pipe has been calculated by Ref. [2]. Moreover, by logging
the flow through the external bypass, it can be seen whether the
bypass flow needed in both FH loops controlled by FJVR valves is
high enough to be used instead of the external bypass.
Case 2 e FH only during the heating period: This example represents a second reference case, i.e. a substation equipped with the
external bypass and no heating demand in the bathrooms during the
non-heating period, i.e. FH in bathroom is controlled by an FJVR or
TRV valve, but the valves are closed during the non-heating period.
Case 3 e CB realised with a needle valve: This case represents CB
realised with a needle valve installed in parallel with a TRV or FJVR
valve. The flow rate through the needle valve for three different
locations in the DH network has been calculated by [8], taking into
account boundary conditions for the non-heating period. Flow
through the needle valve is stopped during a heating period. The
case does not consider changes in the temperature of bypassed
water caused by changes in ground temperature during a nonheating period.
Case 4 e CB realised with an FJVR with a deadband: This case
represents an improved solution realising the CB concept by
replacing the needle valve with an FJVR bypass valve installed in
Table 1
Matrix of simulated cases.
Case
Abbreviation
Tsup to
CB > 35 C
Flow [kg/h]
1.77
4.68
9.36
1
2
3
4
5
6
noCB e FJVR
noCB e external BYP
CB e needle valve
CB e FJVR
CB e electr. step valve
CB e FJVR þ mixing loop
Yes
No
Yes
No
No
No
U
U
U
2.6
U
✘
U
U
U
7.1
U
7.1
✘
U
U
14.0
U
✘
U e Simulated, ✘ e not simulated.
262
parallel with the TRV valve. The difference is in the automatic shut
off of the “bypass” flow in the periods when the bypassed water has
a temperature above the bypass set-point. This means that the CB is
turned off during a space heating season and also for 5 plus 45 min
(needed for DH water in service pipe to cool down from 50 C to
35 C) after every DHW tapping during the non-heating season. In
this case, the FJVR valve is modelled as continuous flow, controlled
by a deadband of 3 C resulting in a 50% increase in the volume of
bypassed water (Section 2.1) compared to the needle valve solution.
Case 5 e CB realised with an electronic step valve: This case is
modelled in the same way as the previous one, but with an ideal
FJVR valve without a deadband. This means that the bypass flow is
the same as in the case of a needle valve, but the bypass flow is
stopped if its temperature exceeds the set-point temperature of
35 C. The FJVR valve without a deadband (in fact, there is always a
deadband, but it can be reduced) can be realised using an electronic
step valve controlled by a temperature sensor. However, the effect
of reduced deadband on the control stability of the valve should be
considered.
Case 6 e CB with mixing loop (direct SH) or heat exchanger (indirect SH): This case is an implementation of CB into the indirect SH
system or direct SH system with a mixing loop. Considering the
thermal efficiency of the HEX for SH equal to 1, both systems can be
represented by one model. The flow rate through the CB FH loop is
distributed proportionally to the floor area, i.e. 80 and 40 kg/h for
the bigger and smaller bathroom, respectively. The temperature of
the water supplied to the SH system during a heating season is
controlled by a P-controller measuring the operative temperature
in the bathroom and adjusting the supply temperature proportionally in a range from 21 to 29 C. The supply temperature to the
CB loop during a non-heating period is a result of mixing the bypass
flow required by the location of the building in the DH network
with the flow returning from the CB loop in a ratio such that the
total flow through the CB loop (both bathrooms) is 120 kg/h. The
mixing loop is not provided as default in IDA-ICE and should be
modelled by the user.
4.1. Performance of FLOOR HEATING with/without comfort
bathroom
The figures below show the operative temperature Top and floor
surface temperature Tfloor reported with time steps of 0.3 h and, if
not specified, only for the bigger bathroom.
4.1.1. Heating period
Fig. 6 compares the performance of FH in the bigger bathroom
for one week during a heating period. This is directly connected FH
without a mixing loop controlled by a TRV valve with a set-point
Top ¼ 20 C (square markers), an FJVR valve with a set-point temperature of 25 C (sensing temperature of water returning from FH
loop, triangle markers), and FH with a mixing loop controlled with
TRV valve (circle markers). It can be seen that for the FH loop
controlled traditionally by an FJVR valve, Top is constantly around
21.5 C and Tfloor around 23.5 C, while for the TRV valve the values
in both cases are 20.5 C and 21.5 C, respectively. The average Tfloor
is slightly higher for the case with the mixing loop than for the
directly connected solution because a lower supply temperature
and higher flow rate in the FH loop results in a better temperature
distribution, but on the other hand in worse cooling and therefore
also in slightly higher Tret.
The heat demand for both bathrooms is 90% higher for the
reference case with FJVR return valve during heating season than
for the case with TRV, as a result of Top being higher by 1.1 C on
average. But most of the additional heat is recovered by the heat
recovery of the ventilation system, so the overall additional heat
demand of the house with FH controlled by FJVR return valve is
during the heating period 93 kWh, i.e. 4%.
4.1.2. Floor heating without CB
Fig. 7 shows results for a two-day period during the non-heating
season for bathrooms in two locations in the DH network. The
figure compares Tfloor and Top for the reference case without FH
heating (Case 2 e black diamond markers), the case with FH
traditionally controlled by an FJVR (Case 1 e grey diamond
markers), and for the sake of comparison also with the CB concept
realised with an FJVR valve (Case 4 e circle and square markers). It
can be seen that Top and Tfloor are lowest for the reference case
without FH, with very small differences between both temperatures. On the other hand, FH controlled with an FJVR return valve in
the traditional manner results in the highest Top and Tfloor. As can be
seen, the curves for both locations are nearly identical and fall on
top of each other, confirming that in this case the amount of heat
delivered by the FH does not depend on its location in the DH
network. Furthermore, the set-point temperature of FJVR valve
25 C results in Top over 24 C for some time periods and it triggers
opening of a window. The window is closed again when Top drops to
22 C, but the window opens only when occupants are at home
(curve without markers). In this case the window is opened for
415 h, i.e. 8% of the non-heating period, despite the building’s
Fig. 6. Performance of FH in the bathroom during heating season.
263
Fig. 7. Top and Tfloor in bathroom during non-heating period, considering various control of floor heating system.
location in the DH network. However the flow of DH water required
by the FJVR valve with the set-point temperature of 25 C is not
high enough to keep the inlet of the substation at 35 C for the
whole non-heating period. In case of customer located close to the
heating plant the flow is below required value of 1.77 L/h for 3%
during non-heating period and for the customer located in the
middle of DH network the flow is below 4.68 L/h for 17% of nonheating period. The results documents that FH controlled with
FJVR return valve installed on the return pipe cannot always ensure
the desired bypass flow for the whole non-heating period, so the
traditional bypass valve should be used anyway.
Top and Tfloor in the bathrooms with implemented CB solution
located in close and middle distances from the DH heating plant lie
between the reference cases and depend on the water flow rate
defined by the position of the building in the DH network. Average
Top and Tfloor for the reference case without FH during the nonheating period are both 22.4 C, meaning that the CB concept can
be used to improve thermal sensation of the occupants. Results for
all cases are summarised in Table 2.
4.1.3. Floor heating with CB
Fig. 8 shows Tfloor for a two-day period during a non-heating
season for the CB solution in three locations in DH network
(close, middle and far distances from DH heat source) realised with
a needle valve and an FJVR bypass valve with a 3 C deadband and
compares them with both reference cases without CB. Based on the
finding in Section 3.2.2, we modelled the bypass flow controlled by
the FJVR valve only as continuous flow.
It can be seen that Tfloor (and also Top - not shown in Fig. 8)
depend not only on the bypass control strategy, but also on the
bypass flow rate defined by the location in DH network. If we
compare the same bypass strategy for different locations in the DH
network, it can be seen that the further the end-user is located from
the heat production plant, the more heat is transferred to the
bathroom FH expressed as higher Tfloor. For both CB strategies, Tfloor
in the location defined with continuous flow 4.68 kg/h is roughly
0.75 C higher, and in the location defined as 9.36 kg/h 1.5 C higher
than in the location with a continuous bypass flow of 1.77 kg/h.
If we compare Tfloor for CB realised with a needle valve and an
FJVR with a deadband in the same locations in DH network, Tfloor is
very similar, even though the nominal bypassed volume was 50%
higher in the case of an FJVR valve. The explanation lies in the shut
off of the bypass flow with the FJVR valve after each DHW tapping,
which results in a final difference in bypassed volume of around 6%
from original 50% (see Table 2). Similar can be concluded also for CB
realised in the system with a mixing loop.
Fig. 9 also shows Tfloor for CB located in three different places in
DH network, but compares CB realised with a needle valve with an
electronic step valve, i.e. an ideal FJVR bypass valve with a reduced
deadband resulting for the same locations in nominal bypass flow
rate equal to that for the needle valve. If the bypass flow rate in the
three locations investigated is reduced by 50% while retaining the
Table 2
Comparison of simulated cases for non-heating period 15/4e15/11, i.e. 5160 h.
CB cost for Bypass cost for
Case# Nominal bypass Top avg. Tfloor avg. Tret avg. Bypassed Average heat Energy used Heat demand Increase
DH company
customer
output from in FH [kWh] incl. FH [kWh] of heat
flow [kg/h]
[ C]
[ C]
[ C]
volume
[DKK]
demand [%] [DKK]
FH [W]
[m3]
Location 1 1
2
3
4
5
Location 2 1
2
3
4
5
6
Location 3 2
3
4
5
1.77
2.6
1.77
2.6
1.77
4.68
7.1
4.68
7.1
4.68
7.1
14.0
9.36
14.0
9.36
23.5
22.4
23.0
22.7
22.9
23.5
22.4
23.2
23.2
23.1
23.2
22.4
23.5
23.4
23.3
24.4
22.4
23.0
23.0
22.9
24.4
22.4
23.8
23.7
23.3
23.7
22.4
24.8
24.6
24.1
25.2
35.0
23.3
23.2
22.9
25.2
35.0
24.4
24.3
23.8
24.4
35.0
25.8
25.6
24.8
24.3
9.7
9.1
9.7
6.9
32.6
25.7
24.1
25.7
16.8
25.7
50.9
48.3
50.9
34.0
97
0
32
29
22
96
0
72
64
46
63
0
127
111
81
500
0
165
150
116
496
0
373
333
236
323
0
655
571
418
2945
2352
2518
2502
2467
2943
2348
2721
2681
2586
2697
2348
2996
2919
2766
17%
0%
7%
6%
5%
17%
0%
14%
12%
9%
12%
0%
22%
20%
15%
325
0
107
98
75
322
0
242
216
153
210
0
425
371
272
49
110
3
12
3
199
97
151
119
90
119
89
341
283
213
264
Fig. 8. Tfloor during a non-heating period in a bathroom with CB realised with a needle valve or an FJVR valve.
blocking function when the bypass water is above 35 C, Tfloor is
reduced by 0.1 C, 0.25 C and 0.25 C in comparison to CB realised
with a needle valve (or a FJVR bypass valve with a deadband as
shown in Fig. 8).
4.1.4. Comparison of all cases investigated
Table 2 summarises the performance of all the cases investigated for the non-heating period, i.e. from 15 April to 15 November
in the three different locations in DH network. The locations are
defined as locations where the DH water at the beginning of the
service pipe has a temperature of 50 C, 40 C and 37.3 C,
respectively. The average return temperature reflects only the
performance of the external bypass/CB and does not take into account the volume of the DH water cooled during the DHW tapping.
Taking the DHW production corresponding to 3200 kWh/
(person.a) into account with designed cooling the DH water from
50 C to 20 C will decrease the average return temperature, but
from the perspective of heat loss reduction from the DH network
this effect can be neglected because DHW tapping accounts only for
3% of the day (40 min).
Table 2 shows that the CB solutions realised with a needle valve
(case 3) and an FJVR (case 4) for the same locations are comparable
from the perspective of Top, Tfloor and weighted average return
temperature of bypassed water Tret. In all three locations investigated, the FJVR valve results in an increase of roughly 6% in water
volume bypassed during the non-heating period. The last column in
Table 2 represents the running costs for the DH utility for bypass
operation in the 10 m long service pipe during the non-heating
season. The cost of the bypass operation is calculated as the cost
of heat lost in the service pipe during bypass operation (heat
loss ¼ mass of bypassed water * water thermal capacity * temperature difference at the beginning and the end of the service pipe)
minus the heat used in CB, which is paid for by the customer. We are
assuming a heat price of 650 DKK/MWh (currency exchange rate
1 DKK ¼ 0.13 EUR). The cost calculation takes into account the
different temperatures at the beginning of the service pipe for
different locations in the DH network (namely 50 C, 40 C and
37.3 C) and 35 C at the end. The results show that the heat sold for
operation of CB during the non-heating period covers, in most of the
cases, the running cost of bypass, while in the case of traditional
bypass operation it is a DH utility who pays for the bypass operation.
Although the CB realised with an FJVR valve (case 4) results in a
slightly higher volume of bypassed water than with a needle valve
(case 3), the average supply temperature is lower (because the
bypass is stopped if Tsup is over 35 C), which means less heat
transferred to the bathroom floor heating making the CB realised
with FJVR solution cheaper for the customer. The difference in
thermal environment is minimal. On the other hand, CB realised
with a needle valve will be a more beneficial solution for the DH
company because the customer will be paying for more heat.
However, it can be concluded that CB realised with an FJVR valve is
better because, in comparison with the needle valve, the adjustment
of an FJVR valve is very simple (adjustment of the desired temperature, not the flow rate), the valve automatically changes the needed
Fig. 9. Tfloor during a non-heating period in a bathroom with CB realised with a needle valve or electronic step valve.
bypass flow based on the actual conditions in the DH network, and
CB is shut down automatically during a heating period.
The traditional external bypass solution realised with the same
FJVR valve but without redirecting the bypassed water (case 2) to
the CB results in same bypassed volume, but in the average return
temperature 35 C, meaning reduced efficiency of the heat plant
and higher heat loss from the DH network. Moreover, this solution
is the most expensive for the DH company, and the customer has a
cold floor in the bathroom.
In the case of FH traditionally controlled by an FJVR return valve
(case 1), having the whole year adjusted to a set-point of 25 C will
sometimes result in higher flow than needed to keep the service
pipe ready for use in the non-heating period. On the other hand, for
some periods the flow rate required by FH in both bathrooms will
be not high enough to keep the inlet of the substation at the desired
temperature, and it will call for the traditional external bypass
anyway. This solution means the customer will get higher Top and
Tfloor but will also pay for a 17% increase in heat demand compared
to the reference case without FH during the non-heating period. For
the DH company, this solution means reduced cost for bypass
operation.
Further saving potential can be seen in the application of an
electronically controlled step valve (case 5) with a reduced deadband. Such a solution will result in reduced total bypassed volume
and therefore lower running costs to keep the DH network ready
for use. The volume of bypassed water will be reduced by roughly
30% compared to using an FJVR with a 3 C deadband.
The heat additionally consumed by the customer using CB depends on their location in the DH network and for the case realised
with an FJVR valve (case 2) ranges between 150 and 571 KWh for
the non-heating period, which represents an additional cost of
between 98 and 371 DKK, which is an increase of between 6 and
20% in total heating cost, as can be seen in Table 2. For the DH
company, this income means a reduction in costs related to heat
loss in service pipes.
But the main advantage should be seen in making good use of
heat carried by the bypass flow which would otherwise be lost in
the DH network and in the increase of the thermal efficiency of the
heat plants. So customers using the CB system should get some
kind of discount on the heat used in CB.
4.2. Effect of comfort bathroom on heat production and distribution
Implementation of the CB concept gives a valuable advantage at
network level thanks to the lower return temperature. The layout of
an existing low-temperature DH network described in Ref. [3] was
chosen for a case study and the results are reported in Fig. 10 and
Table 3. It is important to stress that although the DH network
layout was adopted from Refs. [3], the investigation was made on
the reference house described in Section 3.2.1 and not on the
houses built in Ref. [3].
The network was modelled in the software TermisÒ [20] and
steady-state simulations were carried out, in which it was ensured
that the supply water temperature at the entry point of each inhouse substation was kept at 35 C 1.5 C using a continuous
bypass flow that was then delivered to the bathroom FH system.
This condition represents CB realised with a needle valve. However,
since the total volume bypassed by an FJVR valve with a deadband
is only 6% higher, the results are considered valid also for the case of
FJVR with a deadband.
The heat load in each bathroom due to the radiant FH was set at
30 W for case B. This value was chosen as an average value during
the non-heating period assuming that customers do not open the
windows in the bathrooms, resulting in an increase of Top and
reduced cooling of bypassed water. Results for this simulation are
265
Fig. 10. Plot of the supply temperature in the network with continuous bypass flow
and the “CB concept” during the non-heating season. The DTsupply-return in the FH was
set to 8 C and flows needed to keep a constant 35 C at the bypass.
therefore on the conservative side. As a consequence of installing
CB, the DH water was further cooled down in each house by 7.5 C
on average (max.: 8.0 C, min.: 4.0 C, standard deviation: 0.8 C)
and the average return temperature at the DH heating plant was
reduced from 27.7 C to 23.8 C. In comparison to the case without
CB, the lower return temperature along the distribution pipelines
decreases the heat loss from the return pipe by 35% (see Table 3).
However the table also shows that the distribution heat loss from
the supply pipe increased slightly. This phenomenon is due to the
twin pipe configuration: a slightly greater heat transfer from the
supply media pipe towards the surrounding ambient derived from
the lower return temperature, because the media pipes are
embedded in the same insulation and thus “thermally coupled”. As
an overall effect, the heat loss reduction due to the CB concept (by
the additional cooling of returning DH water) is approximately 13%.
Nevertheless lower return temperature requires additional energy
in the DH heating plant to heat up the DH water back to 55 C, i.e. in
our example 0.7 kW. However at the same time, the customers use
in total 1.2 kW of heat in their CB. This additional heat demand is
from 40% covered by reduced heat losses in the DH network
(0.5 kW) and therefore the DH utility should bill the customers only
for the remaining 60%. Furthermore in case of the DH heat sources
profiting from the reduced return temperature as e.g. combined
heat and power production or heat plants with condensation of flue
gases the price of the heat used in CB during non-heating period
could be further reduced. The same is also valid e.g. for solar-
Table 3
Results from the network simulation with the application of only the “continuous
bypass” (A) or “CB concept” in the summer season (B).
Case
Heating power [kW] (plant)
Tsupply [ C] (from the plant)
Treturn [ C] (to the plant)
Additional heating power [kW]
Total heat loss DH network [kW]
Heat loss supply [kW]
Heat loss return [kW]
Total heating power in all CB [kW]
Heat in CB Covered by Customers [kW]
Difference
A
B
3.8
55
27.7
e
3.8
2.25
1.55
e
e
4.5
55
23.8
0.7
3.3
2.3
1
1.2
0.7
18%
e
3.9 C
e
13%
2%
35%
e
58%
266
thermal plants, where the lower return temperature mean
increased thermal efficiency. To evaluate economic value of
reduced return temperature for the heating plants is however not
in scope of this article.
4.3. Cost-efficiency
Considering the fact that the customers pay only 60% of heat
used in the CB the example of a CB controlled with an FJVR bypass
valve with a 3 C deadband and operated during the non-heating
period costs the customer in the house located at the outskirts of
DH network 220 DKK, while close to the main line it will only cost
60 DKK. It is true that Tfloor for the customer located at the outskirts
of the network is on average 1.6 C higher than for the customer
located close to the plant, meaning greater comfort, but he could
not be forced to pay more just because his house is located further
down the DH network. So it is suggested that the DH company will
deduct the energy used in the CB during the non-heating period
and instead charge the customer with a fixed price for the use of CB.
This price should be the same for all customers whatever their
location in the DH network and should reflect possible further
savings in the heat production based on reduced DH return
temperature.
The additional investment costs for implementation of CB can
be minimised if incurred during the in-house substation installation phase. In fact, it only involves the hydraulic reconnection of the
external bypass valve (which is part of the substation anyway) and
the possible installation of additional pipe to the FH loop.
In Denmark, DH distribution companies are non-profit, generally owned by the local authorities, so costs caused by the heat
losses are hidden in the final users’ heat price. Finally, most endusers could be willing to pay the limited extra investment and
operational costs, given the improvement in the thermal comfort in
their homes.
should be preferred because it does not need precise adjustment of
the bypass flow and reacts instantaneously to changes in the supply
temperature of DH water.
The CB concept can be further improved and heat loss from the
district heating network can be further reduced by using an electronic step valve, removing the disadvantage of the deadband in the
self-acting FJVR valve. This solution will combine the advantages of
needle and traditional FJVR valves, i.e. bypassing only the small
flow necessary to keep the service pipe warm. This would save
roughly 30% of the bypassed volume in comparison to using a
needle valve and further decrease the average return temperature
by 0.3e0.8 C depending on the location in the network.
Application of the CB concept in the typical medium temperature DH network built from the single pipes without state-of-the
art insulation properties will result compared to the lowtemperature DH network in increased bypass flow needed to
keep inlet to the substation at 35 C, but at the same time in a
possibility to save more heat from the return pipes due to the worse
insulation properties of the DH network. From the perspective of
the customers higher bypass flow mean more heat available in the
bathroom FH and thus higher comfort for discounted price.
Use of the CB concept is expected to be more beneficial in
traditional buildings then in low-energy buildings, as the floor
surface temperature will be lower and cooling of bypassed water be
higher.
Using the bypass water for bathroom FH is a cost-effective solution for the DH utilities, the end-users, and society as a whole. The
utilities could earn money supplying heat that otherwise would be
wasted in distribution heat losses and they also benefit from lower
return temperatures. End-users can increase the comfort standard
in their houses in an economical way. Society as a whole would
benefit from the opportunity to include a larger share of low-grade
heat and renewable energy in the heating system, thus decreasing
greenhouse gas emissions and contributing to the country’s energy
security.
5. Conclusions
Acknowledgements
The flow from the external bypass redirected in the non-heating
period to the floor heating in bathrooms gives customers the
sensation of a warm floor by increasing the average floor temperature by 0.6e2.2 C, while also reducing the return temperature of
otherwise insufficiently cooled bypass water. Furthermore, an increase in operative temperature of 0.3e1 C will contribute to the
reduction of relative humidity in the bathroom, usually high in the
Danish summer.
Depending on the location in the DH network, the temperature
of the bypassed water is reduced from 35 C in the traditional
external bypass solution to 23.2e25.6 C in the CB solution. For the
case study of a low-temperature DH network supplying 40 lowenergy houses, this meant a 13% reduction in heat loss from the
DH network during the non-heating period, corresponding to 40%
of the SH demand in the bathrooms during the summer. Considering this the cost of CB during non-heating season would be 60e
220 DKK, depending on the location of the customer in the DH
network, but we suggest an equal charge for all customers whatever their location. Moreover, reduced temperature of DH water
means better efficiency for heat plants.
The flow of redirected bypassed water can be controlled either
by a needle valve providing continuous flow or by a thermostatic
FJVR valve with a 3 C deadband resulting in nominal flow rate 50%
higher than with a needle valve. However, if we take into account
the temperature increase of DH water in the service pipe after each
DHW tapping and the ability of an FJVR valve to stop bypass flow
when the water temperature is above the set-point temperature,
the two solutions are comparable. The solution with an FJVR valve
The research is supported by Danish Energy Agency in the Energy
Technology Development and Demonstration Programme (EUDP)
as a part of the project “Low-temperature district heating in existing
buildings”. This financial support is gratefully acknowledged.
References
[1] Dalla Rosa A, Christensen JE. Low-energy district heating in energy-efficient
building areas. Energy 2011;36(12):6890e9.
measurements for a low-temperature district heating substation for instantaneous preparation of DHW with respect to service pipes. Energy 2012;41(1):
392e400.
[3] Danish Energy Agency. EUDP 2010 Lavtemperatur fjernvarme i eksisterende
bebyggelser [Low-temperature district heating in existing buildings].
description of project, www.energiteknologi.dk; 2010 [accessed June 2013].
[4] EFP 2007: Udvikling og demonstration af lavenergifjernvarme til lavenergibyggeri. Energystyrelsen; 2009. in Danish.
[5] (partly in Danish) Final report EUDP 2008 e II: CO2-reductions in low energy
buildings and communities by implementation of low temperature district
heating systems. Demonstration cases in Boligforeningen Ringgården and
EnergyFlexHouse. Available from: (February 2012), www.byg.dtu.dk/
Publikationer/Byg_rapporter.aspx; 2011.
[6] Tol HI, Svendsen S. Improving the dimensioning of piping networks and
network layouts in low-energy district heating systems connected to lowenergy buildings: a case study in Roskilde, Denmark. Energy 2012;38:276e90.
[7] Dalla Rosa A. The development of a new district heating concept. Network
design and optimization for integrating energy conservation and renewable
energy use in energy sustainable communities. PhD thesis. Technical University of Denmark; 2012.
[8] Dalla Rosa A, Li H, Svendsen S. Modelling transient heat transfer in small-size
twin pipes for end-user connections to low-energy district heating networks.
J Heat Transf Eng 2013;34:372e84.
[9] Dalla Rosa A, Li H, Svendsen S. Method for optimal design of pipes for
low-energy district heating, with focus on heat losses. Energy 2011;36(5):
2407e18.
[10] Logstor pipes, www.logstor.com, [accessed June 2013].
[11] Olesen B. Thermal comfort requirements for floors occupied by people with
bare feet. ASHRAE Trans 1977;83(2):41e57.
[12] Thermostatic radiator valve (TRV) FHV-A, datasheet, Danfoss A/S. downloaded
from “www.heating.danfoss.com”, [accessed June 2013].
[13] Return temperature limiter type FJVR, datasheet, Danfoss A/S. downloaded
[14] Actuator ABNM with adapter for Danfoss RA valves, Danfoss A/S. downloaded
267
[15] Dalla Rosa A, Brand M, Svendsen S. Energy-efficient and cost-effective use of
DH bypass for improving thermal comfort in bathrooms in low-energy
buildings. In: Proceeding of 13th International Symposium on DHC; 2013,
September 3e4. Copenhagen, Denmark.
[16] Danish Building Regulation 2010. www.ebst.dk, [accessed June 2013].
[17] Brand M, Lauenburg P, Wollerstrand J, Zboril V. Optimal space heating system
for low-energy single-family house supplied by district heating. In: Proceedings PassivHus Norden; October 21-23, 2012. Trondheim, Norway.
[18] EQUA. IDA-ICE 4.2, 2011. www.equa.se, [accessed June 2013].
[19] Molin A, Rohdin P, Moshfegh B. Investigation of energy performance of newly
built low-energy buildings in Sweden. Energy Build 2011;43:2822e31.
[20] 7-Technologies. TERMIS 2.10, www.7t.dk, [accessed June 2013].
Appendix III
ISI paper III
various stages of refurbishment
Brand M, Svendsen S
in Energy 2013, vol. 62, p. 311-319.
III
Energy 62 (2013) 311e319
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Energy
Renewable-based low-temperature district heating for existing
buildings in various stages of refurbishment
Marek Brand a, *, Svend Svendsen b
a
b
Technical University of Denmark, Denmark
a b s t r a c t
Article history:
Received 18 April 2013
12 August 2013
Accepted 12 September 2013
Available online 11 October 2013
Denmark is aiming for a fossil-free heating sector for buildings by 2035. Judging by the national heating
plan, this will be achieved mainly by a further spread of DH (district heating) based on the renewable
heat sources. To make the most cost-effective use of these sources, the DH supply temperature should be
as low as possible. We used IDAeICE software to simulate a typical Danish single-family house from the
1970s connected to DH at three different stages of envelope and space heating system refurbishment. We
wanted to investigate how low the DH supply temperature can be without reducing the current high
level of thermal comfort for occupants or the good efficiency of the DH network. Our results show that,
for a typical single-family house from the 1970s, even a small refurbishment measure such as replacing
the windows allows the reduction of the maximum DH supply temperature from 78 to 67 C and, for 98%
of the year, to below 60 C. However for the temperatures below 60 C a low-temperature DH substation
is required for DHW (domestic hot water) heating. This research shows that renewable sources of heat
can be integrated into the DH system without problems and contribute to the fossil-free heating sector
already today.
Keywords:
Low-temperature district heating
Existing buildings
Supply temperature curve
Domestic hot water
IDAeICE
Renewable heat sources
1. Introduction
To reduce CO2 (carbon dioxide) emissions and increase security
of supply, Denmark has decided that all buildings will have 100%
fossil-free heating by 2035. To reach this goal, Denmark needs to
implement energy-saving measures on the demand side, increase
efficiency on the production side, and replace fossil fuels with
various sources of renewable energy [1]. DH (district heating) is
seen as the main solution for achieving the goal because it offers
faster and cheaper integration of renewable sources of heat than
individual heating sources. Based on the study, Heat Plan Denmark
2008 [2], it is planned to increase the share of DH from the current
figure of 46% to 53e70%, with the remaining heating demand,
which is mostly in areas with low heating demand density, being
supplied by individual heat pumps.
However, this widespread integration of renewable sources of
heat with high efficiency and thus reasonable cost will require
further reductions in DH supply and return temperatures [3].
Moreover, it will also be necessary to reduce the ratio between DH
E-mail addresses: marek@byg.dtu.dk (M. Brand), ss@byg.dtu.dk (S. Svendsen).
0360-5442/$ e see front matter Ó 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2013.09.027
network heat losses and heat consumption in buildings. This is
currently increasing due to reductions in heating demand thanks to
[4] the refurbishment of existing buildings and the increasing
number of low-energy buildings. The solution is to reduce DH heat
losses by using twin-pipe geometry (two media pipes in one casing), thicker insulation, and reduced supply and return temperatures. This philosophy lies behind the concept of low-temperature
DH, in which the supply temperature is reduced to 55e50 C and
the return temperature to 30e25 C [5,6]. The minimum supply
temperature of 50 C is defined as the lowest primary temperature
needed to supply the required 45 C DHW (domestic hot water) at
tapping points [7]. Low-temperature DH is the optimal concept for
the integration of 100% renewable sources of heat.
Reducing heat loss from DH networks makes economic sense for
the whole system and also enables supply to areas with low heating
demand density, e.g. low-energy housing areas. The economic
feasibility and high level of comfort for occupants have been
demonstrated in a pilot low-temperature DH project in Lystrup,
Denmark, where low-temperature DH supplies an area with 42
low-energy single-family houses [8]. The heat loss from the Lystrup
DH network, with design supply/return temperatures of 50/25 C,
is only one-quarter of what it would be if the network had been
designed with the traditional temperatures of 80/40 C [9,10]. The
312
M. Brand, S. Svendsen / Energy 62 (2013) 311e319
houses are equipped with radiators designed for 50/25 C supply/
return temperatures. The 50 C supply temperature to the SH
(space heating) system is enough for newly built buildings,
designed mainly with floor heating or low-temperature radiators,
and there is still the option to boost the supply temperature during
the coldest periods. In fact, the DH supply temperature can be even
lower, but then it needs an additional system to heat up DHW to the
desired temperature level. Such a system has been recently tested
in Birkerød in Denmark, where four single-family houses are supplied with DH with a temperature of 40 C. This temperature is
enough for the space heating system, but the DHW is additionally
heated by a newly developed micro heat pump supplied with heat
from the DH network [11].
However, low-energy buildings still comprise only a small share
of the building stock while the majority are older buildings with
considerably higher heating demand. Existing buildings are usually
equipped with SH and DHW systems designed with supply temperatures of around 70 C or higher, so a reduction of DH supply
temperature would be expected to cause discomfort for the occupants. These buildings will continue to make up a large share of the
building stock for many years (in Denmark, about 85e90% in 2030
[3]), so the question arises as to whether such buildings can cope
with low-temperature DH with supply temperatures of 55e50 C
and, if not, what renovation measures need to be carried out on the
building envelope and the building heating and DHW systems, or
how the DH network should be operated.
Some scientific research has focused on DH in relation to the
refurbishment of existing buildings and reporting how much CO2
emission will be saved, how the reduced heating demand will affect
the DH companies from the perspective of heating sold and the
reduction in peak heat output of boilers, and suggesting new price
tariffs [12]. But we found no papers focussing on the possible
reduction of DH supply temperature to existing buildings, and
considering their DHW and SH systems from the perspective of
integration of renewable heat sources into the DH network.
The maximum supply temperature needed can be reduced by
improving the building envelope or by changing the original SH
system to low-temperature system. From the long-term perspective, the preferred solution is to reduce the energy demand by
improving the building envelope, but due to the cost not every
house owner is willing to do this. Changing the SH system is a
cheaper and faster solution, but it does not bring any energy savings; it just allows existing buildings to be supplied by DH with
reduced supply temperatures. The refurbishment measures carried
out on existing houses, e.g. those built in the 70s, vary from no
measures (original state) to extensive renovation, including
replacing the windows and wall and roof insulation. Replacing the
windows is the most typical refurbishment carried out on these
houses, because the window lifetime of 30 years has passed and a
relatively small investment brings considerable heat savings.
1.1. Proper design and operation of space heating system
To evaluate the possible reduction of supply temperature to
existing buildings, we should start with the proper design of an SH
system and with realistic operation conditions. According to Danish
Standard DS418 [13], SH systems should be designed for an operative temperature of 20 C as an indoor temperature, a steady-state
outdoor temperature of 12 C, and no internal and solar heat
gains. The operative temperature involves both air and mean
radiant temperature, and thus defines how the occupants perceive
the environment. Nevertheless, it is very probable that SH systems
in the 70s were in fact designed with the air temperature alone,
because the hand calculation of operative temperature is simply
very complicated. In low-energy buildings, the difference between
operative and air temperature is very small, so error caused by
using air temperature is negligible, but in older buildings, constructed without good insulation properties, the difference can be
rather high due to cold surfaces. This means that, even when the air
temperature is at a comfort level of 20 C, the occupants can feel
cold because the operative temperature is lower (e.g. 18 C).
Moreover occupants tend to set the operative temperature to 22 C
instead of 20 C [10]. This raises the question of how an SH system
designed on the basis of air temperature will perform when the
occupant increases the set-point temperature and how this will
affect the DH network. Both will result in the need for higher heat
output from the SH system and thus increased water flow and
higher return temperatures from the SH and also DH system and, if
one of the systems does not have enough hydronic capacity, this
can cause thermal discomfort for customers. This clarification is
therefore important in any investigation into the possible reduction
of the DH supply temperature.
1.2. DHW system
Considering the possibilities of reducing the DH supply temperature to 50 C, it should be kept in mind that DH is used also for
DHW heating. For DH supply temperature reduced below 60 C, the
recently used DHW substations need to be replaced with specially
designed low-temperature DHW substations. Such substations
with compact and very effective heat exchangers are already in use
in Lystrup [5] and provide a high level of comfort for occupants as
well as good cooling of DH water. For the design conditions, i.e.
13.2 L/min of DHW heated from 10 to 45 C, the substation provides
cooling on the primary side from 50 to 20 C [14]. The only change
the customers experience is the maximum DHW temperature
reduced to about 47 C which is still enough. However since the
DHW temperatures is below 55 C a special attention should be
paid to the risk of Legionella, increased mainly in the temperature
range 30e50 C. Most of the national DHW standards therefore
require minimal temperature of DHW to 55 C, simply not reachable by low-temperature DH. Nevertheless due to the German
standard DVGW 551 [15] there is no requirement for the minimal
DHW temperature for “small DHW systems with volume below 3 L”
(excluding volume of the heat exchanger and DHW circulation
loop) giving the possibility to use low-temperature DH anyway. In
fact most single-family houses with a modern DHW system will
fulfil this requirement, because 3 L for ½00 pipe (DN 15) means 15 m
of pipes, which should be enough. If the volume of water in the
DHW pipes is above 3 L, the piping can be changed from 1/200 to 3/
800 , which will increase the maximal length of the pipes to 25 m.
Where buildings currently use an in-house substation with
DHW storage, a 3 L requirement can be fulfilled by replacement of
the original substation with a 120 L storage tank for DH water [16].
The principle is shown in Fig. 4. The storage tank acts as a buffer
tank for DH water, and DHW is heated instantaneously in the heat
exchanger only when needed. In such a solution, there is no storage
of DHW, which otherwise should follow the rules about a minimum
temperature of 55 C. DHW circulation is not prohibited for either
type of DH substation, but it is not recommended because of large
heat losses.
For multi-storey buildings with a traditionally designed DHW
system with vertical risers, low-temperature DH can only be used
if some kind of DHW disinfection is provided, because the volume
of the DHW system is above 3 L. Thermal disinfection is a wellknown concept, but the connection of low-temperature DH
means there is a need for an additional source of heat, because
efficient thermal disinfection needs at least 60 C while the
supply temperature of low-temperature DH is only 50 C. The
higher the disinfecting temperature is, the shorter time water
313
Fig. 1. Construction of weather-compensated supply temperature curve for non-renovated house, set-point temperature 22 C.
needs to stay at that temperature to be disinfected [17]. If we
exclude fossil-fuel-based heat sources, one solution could be an
electric resistance heater coupled with the heat exchanger for
heat recovery, cooling the DHW to ensure that all flats get a
temperature of 45 C in kitchen taps. Another possibility is the
use of AOT (Advanced Oxidation Technologies), where UV (ultraviolet) lamps form free radicals by irradiation of a catalytic
surface. The radicals then break down contaminants in the water.
The process occurs only inside the purifier and leaves no harmful
residuals in the water [18]. One UV lamp is installed on the cold
water supply to the DHW heat exchanger and another UV lamp
on the DHW circulation just before the heat exchanger. The solution was tested in Ref. [17] with good results. The disadvantages
of such a solution are considerable investment and running costs,
because the lamps need to be changed once a year. Over the
lifetime of 20 years, it means around DKK 3800 per annum [19].
This solution could work for DHW systems supplying several flats
where the tenants share the costs, but as an alternative for use in
single-family houses it is currently too expensive. However a
state-of-the-art solution for multi-storey buildings will be use of
individual in-house substations in each flat [20], so called “flat
stations”, resulting in the same requirements for DHW system as
for the individual connection of single-family houses. However
need of a complete renovation of the DHW and SH system makes
this solution expensive and therefore not commonly used for the
existing buildings.
Fig. 2. Percentage of hours during a year with supply temperature higher than 50 C.
314
Fig. 3. Supply temperature curves for all the investigated cases.
1.3. Objective
This paper describes research into the possible reduction of DH
supply temperatures for a typical single-family house from the 70s
at three different stages of building envelope refurbishment, so that
we can evaluate the possibility of integrating existing buildings into
low-temperature DH networks based 100% on renewable heat
sources. The investigation takes into consideration the proper
designing of the SH system and the effect of the indoor set-point
temperature on the annual heating demand, maximum heat
output, and hydronic conditions in SH and DH systems.
2. Methods
For our investigation, we chose a typical one-storey singlefamily house with pitched roof built in 1973, with an area of 157 m2.
The house was part of the Realea renovation project [21], in which
four typical single-family houses built in 70s underwent different
levels of refurbishment to see how much energy can be saved with
the different kinds of refurbishment measures. All the houses from
the Realea project are connected to the traditional district heating
network and thus feasible for our investigation. Moreover all the
houses were extensively measured for two years before and after
Fig. 4. Principle of low-temperature DH substation with buffer tank for DH water [16].
refurbishment, which gave enough information to build and calibrate the numerical model which we used for the investigation. We
modelled the house as a multi-zone model (each room was
modelled as an individual zone plus one zone representing the
attic) in the commercially available software IDAeICE 4.22 [22]. The
difference in the heating demand measured in the house and
simulated with our model was 2.5% for the non-renovated house.
For this comparison, we used the real weather data measured
during the period of house measurements. All the subsequent
simulations were made using the weather file, DRY (Design Reference Year) for Denmark.
First we designed the space heating (SH) system for the house in
its original state from 70s, i.e. the non-renovated house, to define
the maximum heating output for the SH system and the limit flow
rate of DH water, both needed for dimensioning the space heating
(SH) system and the DH network. The SH system was designed as a
two-pipe system with the radiators connected directly to the DH
network and without mixing loop. Therefore the supply temperature to the radiators is equal to the DH supply temperature. The
design was made in accordance with Danish Standard DS418 [13],
with temperature levels of 70/40/20 C (supply/return/air temperatures), but based on the indoor air temperature. The reason for
this approach was to evaluate the effect on the SH system and DH in
cases when the SH system really was designed on the basis of air
temperature instead of operative temperature.
To simulate realistic conditions, we later introduced constant
internal heat gains 4.18 W/m2 [23] and we ran an annual simulation
for the DRY weather file. As the first step, we found the minimum
DH supply temperature needed to ensure operative temperatures
of 20 and 22 C during the coldest period of the year. The operative
temperature 22 C was chosen to make the investigation valid for
realistic human behaviour. In the next step, we introduced control
of DH supply temperature based on the outdoor temperature so
that the DH supply temperature could be low as possible but at the
same time without the DH water flow exceeding the flow limit
defined for the design conditions based on DS418. This relationship
between outdoor temperature and DH supply temperature is called
the supply temperature curve. Using the same approach, we found
the supply temperature curve also for both a lightly and an
extensively renovated house, but we kept the SH system unchanged, i.e. in the state as it was originally designed. This represents the situation, when the housing envelope is improved
(windows, insulation on the ceilings, etc.), but the SH system is left
unchanged.
In the second step, we also replaced the original radiators with
low-temperature radiators. The length and the height of the radiators were the same, but the depth was changed. The original radiators had two panels (plates filled with water) and one convector
plate increasing the heat transfer area (i.e. radiator type 21) [24],
now the radiators had three panels and three convector plates (type
33). The power curve coefficient n, which is needed for recalculation of the heat output based on the supply temperature, was
changed accordingly.
As the last step, we also considered the possibility of increasing
the limit for heating water flow rate, both the in DH network and in
the SH system. The results are reported separately for the different
stages of building envelope refurbishment.
3.1. Non-renovated house from 1973
The SH system was designed for an outdoor temperature
of 12 C [13], but taking into consideration an air temperature
20 C, our example of a non-renovated house results in a heat loss
of 9.2 kW. The DH supply temperature of 70 C theoretically corresponds to maximum water flow (in both the SH and DH systems)
of 264 L/h (with cooling in the SH system of 70/40 C). However,
real radiators are available only in certain nominal power and thus
a slight over-dimensioning by a total of 550 W results in a
maximum water flow rate of 245 L/h with slightly more cooling, i.e.
the return temperature is 37.6 C instead of the designed 40 C (see
Table 1). The air temperature for all rooms was 20 C, but the
minimum operative temperature was only 18.4 C. This was due to
Table 1
Comparison of heating demand, peak heat output (Pmax) and weighted average return temperature (TRW) for all the investigated cases.
Toperative Internal Tsupmax RADa Pmax TRW [ C] Heating Pmax
demand reduction
[ C]
heat
[ C]
[kW]
[MWh/a] [%]
gains
2
[W/m ]
Non-renovated house e basic
20b
0
70.0
O
9.2
20
0
70.0
O
9.4
20
4.18
73.0
O
9.9
22
4.18
78.0
O
10.5
22
4.18
67.3
LT
10.5
Non-renovated house e advanced
22c
4.18
70.0
O
10.5
22d
4.18
78.0
O
10.5
22e
4.18
78.0
O
7.8
Light renovation e new windows
20
0
70.0
O
7.7
20
4.18
62.0
O
7.8
22
4.18
67.0
O
8.3
22
4.18
59.0
LT
8.3
Extensive renovation
20
0
70.0
O
5.8
20
4.18
53.1
O
5.47
22
4.18
57.0
O
5.80
22
4.18
50.0
LT
5.82
a
b
c
d
e
Heating
demand
reduction
[%]
37.6
40.2
30.1
32.9
27.6
e
e
20.0
24.6
24.6
e
e
e
6
6
e
e
e
23
23
35
33.1
32.5
24.5
24.6
21.7
0
0
25
0
0
12
33.0
27.1
30.4
25.7
14.9
18.4
18.4
e
21
21
21
28.2
24.7
28.1
24.1
9.9
12.4
12.4
45
45
44
O ¼ original radiators, LT ¼ low-temperature radiators.
Dimensioned based on air temperature.
Maximum flow limit increased to 400 L/h.
Time delay in DH supply temperature control.
Simulated with “measured weather data input”.
e
26
25
25
50
49
50
315
cold walls and windows, so the occupants would be not satisfied. To
reach 20 C operative temperature in all rooms (with the same SH
system), the maximum heat output would have to increase to
9.4 kW and the maximum water flow rate to 280 L/h (see Table 1).
An increase of 0.2 kW in maximum heat output and of 35 L/h in
water flow rate is not a problem for the DH network or for the SH
system, so it makes no practical difference whether the SH system
is designed for an air or operative temperature. The only thing that
matters is to be aware of the difference between air and operative
temperature from the perspective of the thermal comfort.
Simulation with an SH supply temperature of 70 C (design
condition), the DRY weather file, and internal heat gains (4.18 W/
m2) representing the realistic use of the building increases the
maximum needed heating output to 9.9 kW and the maximum flow
rate 324 L/h. Furthermore, occupants tend to operate the SH system
with an operative temperature of 22 C, which increases the
maximum heating output further to 10.5 kW and the maximum
flow rate to 432 L/h (not reported in Table 1). This corresponds to
only a 14% increase of the maximum heat output, but to a 64% increase in the design water flow rate. This high increase in flow rate
is caused by the fact that the SH system has to operate above the
design conditions, and it results in reduced cooling and increased
flow of the heating water. This shows that realistic use of the SH
system results in the need for greater heat output than it was
designed for, and the most common solution is an increase of DH
supply temperature above 70 C to avoid problems with enough
flow in DH network and to satisfy all customers.
3.1.1. Supply temperature curve construction
The results presented so far were simulated with a constant
supply temperature of 70 C and the option of exceeding the design
flow rate limit. Now we limit the maximum DH flow rate to 264 L/h
(value based on DS418 design) and modify the DH supply temperature curve based on the outdoor temperature to the lowest
possible level without violating the flow limit and a high level of
thermal comfort.
The optimal supply temperature curve (see Fig. 1) for a nonrenovated house was found by using the following procedure.
First, we found the lowest constant supply temperature that gave
an operative temperature of 22 C during the whole heating period
(DRY weather file) without exceeding the maximum flow rate of
264 L/h. This result defined the supply temperature for the coldest
period and for Top 22 C is represented by point [20; 78] where the
coordinates are outdoor temperature and DH supply temperature,
respectively. Then we changed the supply temperature to 50 C
(low-temperature DH concept), removed the DH flow limitation
and the result revealed the outdoor temperature when the flow
rate with 50 C supply temperature exceeds the 264 L/h limit, i.e.
point [5.5; 50]. Next we connected the two points obtained in the
previous two steps and defined the supply temperature curve (see
Fig. 1). The curve is valid for the case of a non-renovated house
heated to an operative temperature of 22 C, and the highest
needed supply temperature is 78 C.
Fig. 1 shows that, for the situation with the supply temperature
curve defined only by two points ([20; 78] and [5.5; 50]), the flow
exceeds for some periods the limit of 264 L/h (Fig. 1 e diamond
markers). This situation occurs roughly for 170 h over a year and
will result in reduced thermal comfort for occupants. The reason
the water flow is above the limit just for some periods is the
thermal capacity of the building and the history of outdoor temperature. When the outdoor temperature increases fast, resulting in
a fast drop of the DH supply temperature, the inside of the building
construction is still “cold” from the period with lower outdoor
temperatures, so it is still receiving heat from the indoors to
establish a new heat balance condition (i.e. to heat up).
316
The simplest solution would be to raise the whole supply temperature curve until the maximum flow rate remains below 264 L/
h, but this will result in long periods with a higher supply temperature than needed and thus higher heat losses from the DH
network and reduced efficiency in the use of heat sources. A better
solution is to find the supply temperature curve that over the whole
heating season results in a flow close to the limit value. Fig. 1 shows
such a supply temperature curve, defined by the addition of just
one additional point [10; 71]. The DH flow rate (triangle markers)
is exceeded only three times (totalling around 1 h), which can be
negligible considering the thermal inertia of the building.
Fig. 2 shows the percentage of hours in a year when the DH
supply temperature needs to be increased above 50 C to satisfy the
heating demand of the house. The figure also reports results for the
other cases investigated, which are described in Sections 3.2 and
3.3. It can be seen that for the non-renovated house, the supply
temperature to the SH system needs to be increased above 50 C for
41% of hours in a year. For 22% of hours in a year, the temperature
needed to be above 55 C, and so on.
Fig. 2 shows that, in the least favourable conditions represented
by the non-renovated house in its original condition from the 70s
and an operative temperature 22 C, the DH supply temperature
needed to be increased above 50 C for 41% of the year, 8% of hours
above 60 C, 1% hours above 70 C and 0.2% of hours (20 h) above
75 C.
An alternative solution to the optimised supply temperature
curve (constructed from more than two points) could be the
introduction of a time delay in the DH supply temperature control
for periods when the outdoor temperature increases. We simulated
the non-renovated house with an operative temperature of 22 C
and the original temperature supply curve defined by just two
points, but introduced a time delay of 6 h in the periods when the
outdoor temperature was increasing. This case in figures denoted
“non-renovated 22 C Tout SHIFT”. For the periods when the outdoor
temperature drops, the current value of the outdoor temperature
was used. The time delay reduced the maximum flow rate to 280 L/
h, but increased the period with a supply water temperature of 50e
60 C by 12%. Further increases in the time delay would decrease
the maximum water flow rate, but increase the periods with a
supply temperature above 50 C.
3.1.2. Measured weather data input
The results above are based on the DRY weather file, which
contains extreme values for designing buildings and buildings
services. With real data (denoted in Table 1 with upper case “e”)
measured during 2009 close to the site of the Realea project, the
heating demand of the house decreases by 12% and the number of
hours with a supply temperature above 50 C decreases by 10% in
comparison with the DRY weather file.
3.1.3. Limited DH supply temperature
The scenario presented in Section 3.1 considered the availability
of a DH heat source providing supply with a temperature of up to
78 C. However, this cannot always be assured, so it is interesting to
investigate conditions when the supply temperature is limited to
70 C. The lower supply temperature requires an increase in the
limit in water flow rate in both the SH and the DH system.
In the case of the non-renovated house, the 70 C supply temperature limitation results in a maximum water flow rate of 432 L/
h, i.e. 64% more than in the original case. By proper adjustment of
the supply temperature curve, this flow rate can be kept for the
whole heating period. In comparison with the original case (max.
supply temperature 78 C, max. flow rate 264 L/h), the percentage
of hours with the supply temperature over 50 C decreases from
41% to 29% hours, and the period with the supply temperature
above 60 C drops from 3% to 2% of hours. Increased maximum flow
rate also slightly increases the weighted average return temperature from the SH system, from 32.9 to 35 C. But the really important question is whether the DH network and the house SH system
can handle a 64% increase in maximum flow rate.
3.1.3.1. Hydronics of the SH system. The standard approach to
design the diameter of pipes for SH systems in the 70s was the method
of economical velocity with values suggested between 0.8 and 1.2 m/s
[25]. Taking into account the pressure drop on the path to the critical
radiator (usually the most distant one) and by including the pressure
drop in the radiator, the thermostatic radiator valve and the local
pressure losses, the whole SH pipe network in the house can be built
from steel pipes with a diameter of 3/800 (DN10). The maximum velocity of the heating water in this case with an operative temperature
set-point of 20 C is calculated to 0.42 m/s and the total pressure drop
to 9.4 kPa. In fact, the SH piping network is usually made from ½00
(DN15) pipes and this reduces the maximum velocity to 0.25 m/s and
the total pressure drop to 2.8 kPa. For directly connected SH systems,
the additional pressure drop of 4.8 kPa from differential pressure
controller (kev value 1.6 for flow 264 L/h) should be added, and for
indirectly connected SH systems, the pressured drop of the SH heat
exchanger should be taken into account.
A 64% increase in the maximum flow rate (to 432 L/h) in 3/800
pipes means a maximum velocity of 0.71 m/s and a total pressure
drop of 25.3 kPa (2.53 mH2O); in ½00 pipes, this means a maximum
velocity of 0.42 m/s and a total pressure drop of 13.7 kPa
(1.37 mH2O). Both these figures include a 7.3 kPa pressure drop from
the differential pressure controller. Directly connected SH systems
typically have 50 kPa (0.5 bar) of available differential pressure, so
even the less favourable solution with 25.3 kPa pressure drop does
not represent any problem for SH systems. For indirectly connected
systems, the maximum available pressure depends on a circulation
pump, which can easily be changed if the increased pressured drop
exceeds the head pressure of the pump. But it should be emphasised
that, to avoid noise problems, the maximum suggested velocity of
water in pipes should be below 1 m/s.
3.1.4. Low-temperature radiators
Furthermore, the low-temperature DH concept can be extended
to existing buildings by replacing existing radiators with lowtemperature radiators and thus change the design operating conditions from 70/40/20 to e.g. 50/25/20. The DH flow limit is still
kept at 264 L/h, but bigger radiators mean an opportunity to reduce
the supply temperature. In our example, we decided to keep the
length and height of the radiators and only changed their depth.
This meant that while all the original radiators were type 21, the
low-temperature radiators were type 33 [24]. In this way, replacing
the radiators is very easy, because the radiators can be connected to
the existing piping system without any changes.
Fig. 3 shows that the low-temperature radiators allow the nonrenovated house to reduce the original supply temperature curve
from a maximum value of 78 C down to 67.3 C. At the same time,
the outdoor temperature when the DH supply temperature needed
to be increased over 50 C (also called the breaking point) moved
from 5.5 to 1 C, which is 4.5 C lower than in the original case.
Lowering the supply temperature curve also reduces the number of
hours with supply temperature above 50 C by 83%e7% of hours in
the year (see Fig. 2) and by 94%e0.15% hours in year for the supply
temperature above 65 C. The weighted average return temperature from the SH system decreases from 32.9 to 27.6 C.
3.1.5. One-pipe system
The simulations do not consider one-pipe heating system accounting for ten percent of the houses in Denmark. One-pipe
heating system is not seen as a good solution for low-temperature
DH because it can be characterised as a system with need of a
higher supply temperature, low cooling and therefore higher flow
to DH than a two-pipe system. Increased flow can lead to problems
with the hydraulic capacity of the DH network and higher supply
and return temperatures result in higher heat losses from the DH
network and lower efficiency of heat sources. Therefore the
reduced cooling is usually fined by the DH company. The cost of
replacing a one-pipe system with a two-pipe system for singlefamily house is estimated at DKK 60,000 [26]. However one-pipe
systems should be still analysed to evaluate their influence on
low-temperature DH.
3.2. Light renovation e changed windows
As a typical light renovation measure, we chose replacement of
the windows, because the expected lifetime of 30 years is over, so
most of these houses have already done so. This assumption is
further strengthened by the fact that for a relatively small investment house owners get considerable energy savings. In the period
around year 2000, the original windows from the 70s (overall Uw
value of 3.2 W/(m2 K)) were replaced with “energy-glazing” windows with a U-value of 1.2 W/(m2 K), resulting in an overall Uw
value of 1.5 W/(m2 K). The new windows also reduce air infiltration
by 15% to 0.41 h1 (0.278 L/(m2 s)) [21].
Peak heat output and heating demand are reported in Table 1.
First we can see that the heating demand for SH decreased from
20.0 MWh to 14.9 MWh for an operative temperature of 20 C and
from 24.6 MWh to 18.4 MWh for an operative temperature of 22 C.
In both cases, this corresponds to a reduction of 27%. The maximum
heating power needed for the SH system with an operative temperature of 22 C is reduced from 10.5 kW to 8.3 kW, which makes
it possible to define a new supply temperature curve. From the
original 78 C for a non-renovated house, the maximum value
decreased to 67 C with the breaking point of 0.5 C. Replacing the
original radiators with low-temperature radiators shifts the supply
temperature curve down by 8 C and the maximum supply temperature is therefore further reduced from 67 C to 59 C. In comparison with the non-renovated house, the number of hours with a
supply temperature above 50 C (see Fig. 2) decreases by 60%e
16.5% of hours over the year and by 95%e2% of hours with lowtemperature radiators.
This reduction in the heating demand brings closer the possibility of using 50 C all year round. This becomes possible if the DH
network can guarantee a maximum flow rate for SH of 520 L/h. For
directly connected SH systems designed with ½00 pipes and differential pressure controller with kev value 1.6, this means a
maximum velocity of 0.51 m/s and a design pressure drop of
19.2 kPa (19.2 mH2O), both of which are in an acceptable range. This
solution would also be possible for 3/800 piping, but would result in
a maximum velocity of 0.85 m/s and a maximum pressure drop of
46.2 kPa (4.6 mH2O), which are very close to the maximum values.
3.3. Extensive renovation
The extensive renovation of the house was modelled on the
Realea project [21]. This was carried out by adding 300 mm insulation above the ceiling (lins ¼ 0.56 W/(m2 K) including the effect of
wooden beams), and by insulating the wooden beams that bear the
roof construction with 125 mm of insulation (lins ¼ 0.039 W/
(m2 K)) and 13 mm gypsum board. The overall heat transfer coefficient U for the ceiling construction was reduced from 0.48 to
0.14 W/(m2 K) and for the insulated beams from 1.1 to 0.24 W/
(m2 K). Moreover, the thermal bridges between the inner and outer
wall around the windows were reduced by inserting 30 mm of
317
polystyrene (in simulations modelled as reduced linear heat loss
from 0.0736 to 0.0192 W/(K m)). Windows facing west and north
were replaced with triple-glazed low-energy windows with an
overall Uw value of 0.9 W/(m2 K) and a g value of 0.5. The change of
the windows reduced air infiltration by 15%, as in the case of light
renovation, i.e. to 0.613 h1. Table 2 shows the impact of the individual renovation measures on the annual heating demand.
It can be seen that the largest reduction in heating demand was
achieved by insulating the ceiling: roughly 21%. The next most
effective solution was replacement of the windows (only west and
north façades), contributing to a reduction in annual heating demand of roughly 18%. The change of the windows would have had
greater effect if all the windows had been changed. The other
refurbishment measures each contributed less than 5%. The
numbers given describe only the heating demand saving potential
and say nothing about the economic feasibility of the individual
measures, but these refurbishment measures were chosen in
Realea project as the most cost-effective solutions.
Compared with its original state, extensive renovation of the
house reduces the annual heating demand for SH from 20.0 MWh
to 9.9 MWh for an operative temperature of 20 C and from
24.6 MWh to 12.4 MWh for an operative temperature of 22 C. In
both cases, this is a reduction of about 50%. Moreover, the peak
heating demand in each case is reduced from 9.4 kW to 10.8 kW to
5.5 kW and 5.8 kW, respectively.
The flow rate limit 264 L/h for the extensively renovated house
represents a supply temperature curve with a maximum value of
60 C, and this fits in with the philosophy of low-temperature DH
with increased supply temperature during winter. A supply temperature in the range 50e55 C is needed only for 3% (295 h) of a
year and for just 20 h in range 55e60 C. The weighted return
temperature is 28 C. Furthermore, replacing the radiators with
low-temperature radiators means that the extensively renovated
house can be supplied by DH water with a constant temperature of
50 C during the whole year without exceeding the maximum flow
of the original DH network and a weighted return temperature
24.1 C.
3.4. Impact of DHW on reduction of annual weighted return
temperature
DHW demand was expected to be 79 m3/a of 45 C DHW (corresponding to 800 kWh/(a person)) [27], which is only 8% of the
Table 2
Impact of individual refurbishment measures on annual heating demand; measured
weather data input, set-point temperature tair ¼ 20 C.
Non-renovated
house
Improved thermal
bridges on windows
Additional 300 mm
insulation to the ceiling
Reduced air infiltration
with new windows from
0.327 to >0.27795 L/m2 s
New low-energy windows
on W þ N, Uw from 3.2
to >0.9 W/(m2 K)
Added 125 mm insulation to
wooden bearings for the
roof construction
Heating
demand
[MWh/a]
Heating demand
reduction
[MWh/a]
[%]
18.8
e
e
18.3
0.4
2
14.4
3.9
21
13.6
0.8
4
10.3
3.3
18
9.4
0.9
5
318
volume needed for SH in case of non-renovated house heated to
22 C. The return temperature from the DHW heat exchanger
changes with varying DH supply temperatures and cold water
temperatures. It can be precisely calculated, but as a rough estimation we can expect an average return temperature of 20 C. In
the example of the non-renovated house, it reduces the annual
weighted average return temperature from 32.9 to 32 C, which
corresponds to an 8% decrease.
4. Conclusion
The results show that a typical single-family house built in 70s
and recently still without any renovation measures can be heated
by low-temperature DH with supply temperature 50 C to an
operative temperature of 22 C roughly for 59% (3600 h) of year.
However to avoid compromising of thermal comfort or exceeding
the design flow rate in the DH network the DH supply temperature
should be raised above 60 C for roughly 8% of year (700 h).
Considering the average DH supply temperature of 79 C during the
heating season 2010 solely from the perspective of the SH systems,
the DH supply temperature can be considerably decreased even for
non-renovated houses, representing the most unfavourable
conditions.
However in reality, most houses from the 70s have already
replaced their original windows, which mean that the maximum
value and the duration of increased DH supply temperature can be
further reduced. In our example, it means a reduction from 8% to
only 2% (175 h) of hours in the year when the temperature is above
60 C. Therefore it shows that for most houses from the 70s it is
possible to decrease the DH supply temperature below 60 C for
almost whole year and integrate renewable sources of heat with
high efficiency, thus contributing to the fossil-free heating sector
already today.
Furthermore, by installing low-temperature radiators (with the
same outer dimensions as the original ones), the maximum supply
temperature can be reduced to 59 C so that there is no period with
a DH supply temperature over 60 C. The same supply temperature
curve is also valid for the extensively renovated house (new lowenergy windows and attic insulation) with the original SH system. If the extensively renovated house also replaces its space
heating system with low-temperature radiators, it can then be
supplied all year around with a DH supply temperature of 50 C.
The duration of periods with a DH supply temperature above 50 C
is reported for an operative temperature of 22 C to model a realistic set-point temperature preferred by occupants. The durations
for an operative temperature of 20 C will be shorter.
However, the reduction of the DH supply temperature to below
60 C does require changing DHW heat exchangers to special lowtemperature heat exchangers and traditional DHW storage tanks to
low-temperature DH storage tanks. We suggest that DH utilities
should start requiring the replacement of existing DH substations
with low-temperature DH substations already today, because this
will ensure that in 20 years (the typical lifetime of a DH substation)
all newly installed DH substations will be ready for lowtemperature DH.
The DH supply temperature curve, which represents changes in
DH supply temperature based on the actual outdoor temperature,
needs to be defined by more than two points. Alternatively, the
outdoor temperature input needs to be delayed. Otherwise the DH
network will not be used in an optimal manner, which will result in
greater heat losses and poor cost-effectiveness. Moreover the
supply temperature curve can be further shifted to lower temperatures if the maximum guaranteed DH flow rate is increased with
additional head pressure from pumps in the DH network. This is
documented in the example of the non-renovated house where the
maximum supply temperature decreased from 78 to 70 C while
the annual weighted average return temperature increased only by
3 C. This solution will therefore make it easier to integrate
renewable sources of energy, but the impact on DH networks needs
further investigation.
The consequences of using air temperature instead of operative
temperature when designing an SH system were shown to be
marginal, both for the SH and the DH system. In reality, the radiators will tend to be over-dimensioned because the designers want
to be sure that the system provides enough heat and this will make
it possible to use slightly lower supply temperatures. Overdimensioning of the DH network by 20e30% is also expected and
this will contribute to better integration of existing buildings into
low-temperature DH networks. However, we cannot rely on the
over dimensioning.
Percentage reduction in the heating demand is not the same as
the reduction in peak heat output. Light renovation results in a 25%
reduction in heating demand but only to 20% reduction in peak heat
output. Similar is valid also for extensive renovation, with 50% and
45% reduction of heating demand and peak heat output
respectively.
The heating demand of existing buildings is expected to
decrease linearly to 50% of its present value by 2050. This reduction
in heating demand, however, will cause no difficulties, if the present DH concept is changed to low-temperature DH. The lowtemperature DH concept still requires further optimisation, and
more work is needed on DH network design and operation to take
into account the integration of renewable sources of energy, but the
low-temperature DH concept can be introduced already today
because existing buildings do not represent such big problems as
might have been expected.
Acknowledgements
The research is supported by Danish Energy Agency in the Energy Technology Development and Demonstration Programme
(EUDP) as a part of the project “Low-temperature district heating in
existing buildings”. This financial support is gratefully
acknowledged.
References
[1] Lund H, Mathiesen BV. Energy system analysis of 100% renewable energy
systems e the case of Denmark in years 2030 and 2035. Energy 2009;34:
524e31.
[2] Aalborg University and Ramboll. Heat plan Denmark. http://www.energymap.
dk/Profiles/Ramboll/Projects/Heat-Plan-Denmark; 2008.
[3] Lund H, Möller B, Mathiesen BV, Dyrelund A. The role of district heating in
future renewable energy systems. Energy 2010;35:1381e90.
[4] The Directive 2010/31/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19
May 2010 on the energy performance of buildings. Off J Eur Union 2010;53.
measurements for a low-temperature district heating substation for instantaneous preparation of DHW with respect to service pipes. Energy
2012;41(392):400.
[6] Dalla Rosa A, Christensen JE. Low-energy district heating in energy-efficient
building areas. Energy 2011;36:6890e9.
[7] Dansk Standard. DS 439 code of practice for domestic water supply installations; 2009.
[8] Final report EFP 2007: development and demonstration of low-energy district
heating for low-energy buildings; 2009 in Danish.
[9] Christiansen CH, Rosa AD, Brand M, Olsen PK, Thorsen JE. Results and experiences from a 2 year study with measurements on a new low-temperature
district heating system for low-energy buildings. In: Proceedings of 13th international symposium on district heating and cooling, September 3e4, 2013,
Copenhagen, Denmark.
[10] Final report EUDP 2008 e II: CO2-reductions in low energy buildings and
communities by implementation of low temperature district heating systems
[partly in Danish]. Available from: http://www.byg.dtu.dk/Forskning/
Publikationer/Byg_rapporter.aspx; 2011 [accessed February 2012].
[11] Zvingilaite E, Ommen T, Elmegaard B, Franck ML. Low temperature district
heating consumer unit with micro heat pump for domestic hot water
[12]
[13]
[14]
[15]
[16]
[17]
[18]
[19]
preparation. In: Published at the 13th international symposium on district
heating and cooling, September 3e4, 2013, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Difs K, Bennstam M, Trygg L, Nordenstam L. Energy conservation measures in
buildings heated by district heating e a local energy system perspective.
Energy 2010;35:3194e203.
Dansk Standard. DS 418 calculation of heat loss from buildings. 7th ed.; 2011.
Danfoss Hex Calculation Software. Downloaded 8/2011 from www.Danfoss.com.
DVGW. W551 e Trinkwassererwärmungs- und Trinkwasserleitungsanlagen;
1993. Bonn, [in German].
Paulsen O, Fan J, Furbo S, Thorsen JE. Consumer unit for low energy district
heating net. In: Published at the 11th international symposium on district
heating and cooling, August 31 to September 2, 2008, Reykjavik, Iceland.
Teknikmarknad, Legionellaavdödning och sänkt tappvattentemperatur e en
ekologisk metod. Energimyndigheten; 2011. 2011-09-07-03, Dnr 2010003608, Allmän rapport.
www.walleniuswater.com. Reached 27.3.2013.
Personal correspondence with Efsen Engineering AS, representative for
Wallenius Water AS in Denmark.
319
[20] Kristjansson H. Distribution systems in apartment buildings. In: Published at
the 11th international symposium on district heating and cooling, August 31
to September 2, 2008, Reykjavik, Iceland.
[21] Bolius e boligejernes videncenter. Energirenovering af parcelhus fra 1973.
[online] reached 27.3.2013. http://www.bolius.dk/alt-om/energi/artikel/
energirenovering-af-parcelhus-fra-1973/.
[22] EQUA. IDA-ICE 4.22. www.equa.se/ice/intro.html; 2013.
[23] Brand M, Lauenburg P, Wollestrand J, Zboril V. Optimal space heating
system for low-energy single-family house supplied by district heating. In:
Proceedings PassivHus Norden, October 21e23, 2012, Trondheim, Norway.
[24] Korado. www.korado.com; 2013 [Online].
[25] Becher P. Varme og ventilation 2 e Forbrænding og varmeanlæg. 4. udgave.
København: Teknisk Forlag; 1972.
[26] Personal correspondence with Affaldvarme Århus (Århus district heating).
[27] Energi styrelsen. Håndbog for Energikonsulenter. Version 3 [online] reached
27.3.2013,
http://www.maerkdinbygning.dk/Materiale/Files/H%C3%
A5ndbogþforþenergikon sulenterþ2008%2cþversionþ3.pdf; 2008.
Appendix IV
Schedule for Internal Heat Gains
IV
Overview of internal heat gains
List of Internal HG
addition to routine events [kWh/week]
equipment / event
continuous power [W]
energy
[kWh/24h
or cycle]
event
energy
[kWh/cy
cle]
day
time
fridge
32
0.77
washing
1
Tuesday
18-22
washing machine
tumble dryer
dish washer
1000
1850
1000
1
1.85
1
1.85
1
1.85
Tuesday
Thursday
Thursday
22-01
18-22
22-01
Cooking
TV
1100
200
1.1
drying
washing
drying
vacuumi
ng
ironing
1
Sat
15-16
0.75
15-16
Computer
breakfast (1+2kW in 5
minutes)
Ironing
IHEU
100
total
7.45
Sun
[kWh/we
ek]
250
0.75
36
0.25
EQUIP + LIGHTS … difference my SCH vs.
constant 3,5W/m2
people…difference
my SCH vs.
Constant 1.5W/m2
people:
const.
people:
1.5
model
W/m2
40.07
40.96
EQUIP + LIGHTS:
const. 3.5 W/m2
EQUIP +
LIGHTS:
model
differen
ce
week [kWh/week]
93.5
71.39
22.1
const. power [W]
3.5
2.67
0.8
1.5
year [kWh/year]
4862
3712
1149
2084
total internal HG
const 1.5 +
3.5 W/m2
model
133.6
112.3
1.53
5.00
4.21
2130
6945
5842
1
Detailed schedule of internal heat gains for working day
HG people
[kWh/wd]
heat emitted from
people [W/wd]
2560
320
0
320
320
320
1280
eating
resting
18:0019:00
19:00 23:00
1
1
5.12
week days (wd)
room
room 11.6
room 11.9
tech. room 9.1
entrance 4.1
room 9.1
bathroom 1
bedroom 15.0
kitchen 9.4
bathroom 2
corridor
living room 32.0
dining room 20.1
time for the
activity [h]
sleep
eating
23:00 7:00
1
1
7:00 8:00
no one at
home
8:00 15:00
working
15:0017:00
1
1
cooking/res
ting
17:0018:00
1
1
2
1
1
4
8
1
4
7
2
1
heat emitted [W]
week days (wd)
fridge + IHEU
washing machine
tumble dryer
dish washer
cooking
TV
computer
eating (kettle,
toaster)
lights
68
total EQ +
LIGHT in the
house [W]
2
total
1
4
24
250
200
1100
200
200
25
250
150
150
586
1818
218
3472
200
200
250
545
318
477
7.4
kWh/wd
constant value 3.5W/m2
difference
13.4
5.9
total EQUIP and LIGHT
29.6
kWh/wd
kWh/wd
kWh/5w
d
2
Detailed schedule of internal heat gains for weekend day
HG people
[kWh/we]
heat emitted
from people
[W/we]
2560
320
1280
320
320
960
320
320
1280
aftern
oon
14:0017:00
1
1
cooking/resti
ng/working
eating
resting
17:00-18:00
18:0019:00
19:00 23:00
7.68
weekend (we)
sleep
room
room 11.6
room 11.9
tech. room 9.1
entrance 4.1
room 9.1
bathroom 1
bedroom 15.0
kitchen 9.4
bathroom 2
corridor
living room
32.0
dining room
20.1
time for the
activity [h]
23:00
- 7:00
1
1
morni
ng
8:00 12:00
1
1
cooking/resti
ng/working
eating
12:00-13:00
13:00 14:00
1
1
1
1
2
1
2
8
1
1
1
4
heat emitted
[W]
fridge + IHEU
washing
machine
tumble dryer
dish washer
cooking
TV
computer
eating (kettle,
toaster)
lights
total EQ +
LIGHT in the
house [W]
eatin
g
7:00 8:00
2
1
4
4
1
4
4
1
3
1
total
1
4
24
weekend (we)
68
250
1850
250
200
200
1100
200
200
200
200
1100
200
200
16.7
250
150
150
1454
1818
218
2672
200
250
545
318
2872
3418
68
13.4
constant value 3.5W/m2
13.4
difference
-0.0
total EQUIP and LIGHT
-0.1
kWh/
we
kWh/
we
kWh/
we
kWh/
2we
3
This PhD thesis is based on three published scientific papers that describe challenges related to DHW and
space heating systems supplied by low-temperature district heating (LTDH) and provide suggestions for
their solution. The results indicate that LTDH can deliver the heat required by DHW and space heating
systems, but needs specially designed LTDH substations and low-temperature heating systems. In areas
with older, non-refurbished buildings with traditional space heating systems, the DH supply temperature
will need to be increased briefly during cold winter periods. The thesis concludes that LTDH can be widely
implemented in areas with both low-energy and non-refurbished buildings, and thus make an immediate
contribution towards the achievement of a fossil-free and cost-efficient heating sector.
DTU Civil Engineering
Technical University of Denmark
Brovej, Building 118
2800 Kgs. Lyngby
Telephone 45 25 17 00
www.byg.dtu.dk
ISBN: 9788778773821
ISSN: 1601-2917

Heating and Domestic Hot Water Systems in Buildings

Transcription

Similar documents

Untitled - Investin Homes

High Performance or Hype Performance?

Trendy-D - Alarko Carrier

New Technology for Multifamily_Pesce

make semgas your new year`s resolution

Mynute Green k - Beretta Boilers

FME softener brochure.pub

pdf 4 MB | January 20, 2016

DP3000SA - Durapower

Groenhoevelaan #S/M 0ong € 2.500,